As anyone who has lived in this area knows, the “working wage” isn’t swell, and the costs of living are as high as the sky compared to it.
The Herald-Times published an article today regarding this issue, which rattles me to the core.¬ Some of these statistics are downright frightening.
Here are some excerpts:¬
To afford a two-bedroom apartment and cover other expenses, someone working a minimum-wage job must work the equivalent of 100 hours a week. Or make $12.88 an hour for an average 40-hour work week.¬ (It took me nearly 5 years to earn a few cents less an hour than that.)
An estimated 59 percent of renters are unable to afford a 2-bedroom apartment in Bloomington, compared to 44 percent of the statewide percentage, according to the Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homelessness Issues report.¬ (I couldn’t afford to live by myself and never have.)
Just for pure informational purposes, a co-worker of my wife rents a “1 bedroom apartment w/ den”.¬ Her rent is nearly what our mortgage payment (including P&I)¬is on a 1800 sq. ft. home with .48 acres.¬ We live around 10 miles away from her.