What costs $24.60? An apartment.

I’m trying to make sure I understand just how hard it is for so many families to make ends meet in Florida, especially in Miami. To help me remember it better, let’s call it a straight $25. That’s how much a person would need to earn per hour to afford a two bedroom apartment, spending the recommended 30% of their income on rent. Guess what minimum wage is? $8.05 an hour. Guess what the average renter earns per hour? $15.46 an hour.

Thanks to the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Danielle Pierre for helping me better understand just what a housing wage means. In Miami that means many people would have to work 2 or more jobs to house their families properly without sacrificing a budget for food, transportation, education, and utility costs.

So either wages are too low or housing is too high. Riddle me that, Batman.

We've got a permanent poverty problem here if we don't start getting creative with solutions. Tallahassee is limiting our ability to adjust the minimum wage, but we can find local solutions to the housing problem.