Question: Can a U.S. worker earning the minimum wage be able to afford to buy a home? The answer is: Yes, but it will take a lot of time to save for a down payment.
A new study by Salt Lake City-based BadCredit.org compared Zillow home prices over the past year to minimum wages in every state. The study determined that it minimum wage workers started saving 10% of their paycheck at age 18, they could afford an 8% down payment in roughly 23.1 years at age 41 – a feat that would require 4,809 hours of work. In comparison, salaried workers making the median income could achieve the same milestone in 5.1 years.
Minimum wage earners in Utah have the longest haul to homeownership – the study found it would take 34.1 years to afford a down payment; on a median income, the same goal is met in 6.5 years. In comparison, Illinois’ minimum-wage workers could save in 8.6 years, while those in West Virginia, Arkansas, and Missouri workers can save for a down payment in less than 10 years.
“The findings are a sobering reminder of the financial hurdles that low-income earners face in achieving the American Dream of homeownership,” said Jon McDonald, senior editor at BadCredit.org. “While we’re seeing increases in minimum wage, such as the recent rise for California’s fast-food workers, these steps are often insufficient to bridge the gap in high-cost housing markets.”
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Of course not, nor should they be able to. Minimum wage is for someone’s first or second job so they can learn how to act in the workplace. Minimum wage should never be a “living wage” for someone to raise a family on. It is for teenagers and college students to make some cash on the side while going to school.
Finally. Someone with clear thinking.
If you are an adult with a couple years in the workforce and making minimum wage you are not trying. Something is wrong and probably not responsible enough to be a homeowner. Owning a home is a big responsibility
Lloyd I am sad for you. I’m almost as sad as I am for the people who are living in this inflated economy from paycheck to paycheck who will never be able to set aside 10% of their salaries – and will never own a home.
So glad you chimed in, Lou. You’re a kind person. It is sad that there are those who don’t understand the fact that millions of people work minimum wage jobs for very good reasons. Not just because they’re not trying. It’s horrible to admonish tens of millions of Americans for not getting jobs that pay over minimum wage, when so many people are over 60 and alone. Employers don’t hire people over 50, let alone, 60. Next time folks go to McDonald’s or some other FF place, or Target, or order food delivery… folks might want to take notice of how many older Americans are working these jobs now. In the past, I only remember kids working fast food jobs. No matter the experience, and money made in the past, too many older Americans have been forced to take minimum wage jobs due to lost savings because of illness, or their house burned down, or their husband traded them in for a newer model, or… for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with, “not being responsible or not trying hard enough.”
So, no, people living on minimum wage cannot afford health insurance, much less, property. It’s impossible to live a healthy, secure life on minimum wage in 2024. I’d say the idea of putting 10% away for 20 to 40 years is laughable, but that would be a cruel joke.
Theres’s so much wrong with what is being said on here it’s hard for me to even give you my time and energy for a comment. For any of you that think working a minimum wage job doesn’t deserve the same respect as a job you dump a TON of money into for college credits then you are horribly mistaken. Minimum wage workers are still people that have to get up every day, be on time for work, listen too many different bosses, and try to make them all happy. Their jobs have complexities to them just like every other job. They WORK! At the end of the day, their feet and backs hurt just like the rest of us. They are stressed and tired just like the rest of us that have jobs that pay more and have better benefits. Why must we as a society constantly put other fellow citizens beneath our feet! Think for a minute how different your day would look if you didn’t use ANY minimum wage workers in your life today. No fast food today. NO tellers anywhere. Nobody at the other end of the phone when you call for assistance with your phone bill, etcetera. Nobody to check you into your clinic appointments. NOBODY to sell you a movie ticket. Nobody to make your burger at your favorite restaurant or to serve you a meal. NOBODY to stock shelves at your grocery store. Nobody to sell you clothes on-line or in the store you shop. NO bank tellers or people making prepared food at the local deli. No pizza makers for that pizza you pick up on your way home after a long hard work day. NO bartenders. If you really think a country can function without people doing these so-called beginner jobs for a living, think again. We would’t have enough people to fill the positions. Did going to college teach you to look down on these people? I don’t know what colleges you attended, but mine did not.
Of course not!!!!! And the worst thing is that no one cares. Both, governments and business owners have never done anything to solve the economic problem of their citizens. Their classism makes them believe that some jobs have more value than others and that is why they believe that it is right to pay miserable salaries to a large sector of the workforce; whose work is just as important as any other.