In our ongoing coverage of Florida's constantly increasing prices (The Price of Paradise), a new study is showing just how tough the state is for low-income workers.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a worker earning the minimum wage in Florida, $12.00 per hour, would have to work 98 hours per week to afford a "modest 1-bedroom rental home."
According to the study, a minimum-wage worker would have to work 117 hours per week to afford a 2-bedroom rental home at fair market value.
Put another way, a minimum wage worker would need 2.9 full-time jobs to afford a 2-bedroom rental home in Florida.
TAMPA, FLa. — 2024 Out of Reach Florida by ABC Action News
Zooming into the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region, the study found the fair market value of a 2-bedroom unit was $1,851, and a worker would need an annual income of $74,040 to afford that price.
The study found the mean renter's wage in the region to be a little more than $23.33 an hour. Given that wage, the monthly rent affordable at the mean wage was $1,213.
Bradenton community responds after 20-year-old volleyball star dies from disease that affects 2 in a million
The 20-year-old IMG Academy volleyball star and Under Armour All-American died Sept. 16 after a three-month battle with the rare blood disorder — even though doctors had found her a 100% bone marrow match, her mother, Tanya Mack tells Tampa Bay 28 reporter Haley Zarcone.
