Hourly wages needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the U.S. 2019, by state

In 2019, households in California needed an hourly wage of 34.69 U.S. dollars to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment. However, Hawaii had the least affordable two-bedroom apartments, as a household would have to earn at least 36.82 U.S. dollars in order to afford rent payments. These figures are considerably higher than the average minimum wage of 7.30 U.S. dollars per hour, which is in place in many states. There was no state in which a minimum wage worker could afford rent for the average two-bedroom apartment, if they only worked 40 hours a week.

Where are the least affordable counties and metros?

Although Hawaiian households needed the highest hourly wages to afford rent overall, the least affordable rents were predominately in Californian counties and metropolitan areas in 2019. California has one of the highest minimum wages in the country, which was increased to 11 U.S. dollars per hour as of January 2019. Thus, the unaffordability of two-bedroom apartments highlights how disproportionately high housing costs are in the state.