We all know the rent is too damn high in the city, but those for those making low wages it’s nearly impossible to find an affordable apartment.
StreetEasy just came out with an interactive map that shows just how truly difficult it is out there for renters making the state’s minimum hourly wage of $8.75. “Using full year 2014 data, we analyzed the number of rental listings that would be affordable to a person making $8.75 per hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. For this analysis, we assumed that a 40 percent rent burden would constitute “affordable” rent (meaning 40 percent of the earner’s gross annual income goes to rent). We also assumed that a studio or one-bedroom unit would be occupied by one person, a two-bedroom unit would be occupied by two people, and a three-bedroom unit would be occupied by three people (all of whom are making minimum wage and working the same number of hours as stipulated above),” StreetEasy wrote on its blog. RELATED:New Yorkers’ guide to holiday tipping: Apartment edition That analysis found only 575 listings were affordable across the city, or just 0.03 percent of all listings.
The best bet for minimum wage workers?
Brooklyn.
Although Bedford-Stuyvesant had the most affordable units for minimum wage workers, just 1.5 percent of all its listings were within their budget.
This week, a New York State board upheld the state’s efforts to raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour. The raise affects workers at chain restaurants with at least 30 locations nationwide. As of Dec. 31, their pay will go up to $10.50 an hour in New York City. The pay will increase in the city $15 an hour by 2018 and by 2021 in the rest of the state. The minimum wage for all New Yorkers will increase to $9 an hour by 2016, and up to $15 by 2021.
