The Least and Most Affordable Big Cities for Minimum Wage Earners 2021

By Joe Roberts

Jun 18, 2021

2 min read

Plenty of big cities still fall under the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which isn’t a living wage for the majority of people in the US. So where can you live on minimum wage and still have a comfortable, affordable life?

We ranked the 75 biggest cities in the US by how many hours it would take to afford a one-bedroom apartment while making minimum wage. This doesn’t include all the other cost of living factors, but it does show where even paying rent on a single minimum wage job won’t work (if you’re planning on renting alone).

The average minimum wage in these 75 cities is $10.40 per hour, but the average one-bedroom apartment rent is $1,040 per month—that means rent in most big cities requires over 60% of monthly gross minimum wage income, which doesn’t include taxes.

You should be wary of places with a current federal minimum of $7.25 per hour and high rent—they’re likely unaffordable. Unless you have some housemates who can help cover the bills, or you’re going to work multiple jobs, you may want to consider moving to a nearby surrounding city or town with lower costs.

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The worst cities for a single-bedroom renter living on minimum wage

Rank	City	State	Population¹	Population rank	Median monthly gross rent²	Hourly minimum wage³	Monthly hours worked at gross minimum wage to afford rent
1	Atlanta	Georgia	506,804	37	$1,283	$7.25	177
2	Plano	Texas	285,849	72	$1,192	$7.25	164.4
3	Austin	Texas	979,263	11	$1,186	$7.25	163.6
4	Charlotte	North Carolina	885,707	15	$1,082	$7.25	149.2
5	Nashville	Tennessee	668,580	24	$1,074	$7.25	148.1
6	Irvine	California	287,387	71	$2,026	$14.00	144.7
7	Raleigh	North Carolina	474,708	41	$1,046	$7.25	144.3
8	Dallas	Texas	1,343,565	9	$1,001	$7.25	138.1
9	Durham	North Carolina	279,447	74	$983	$7.25	135.6
10	Orlando	Florida	287,435	70	$1,147	$8.56	134

Atlanta is the worst city to work and live as a minimum wage earner. You’d have to work over 177 hours in a month to live in a single-bedroom apartment in Georgia’s capital.
Dallas has the ninth biggest population in the US, but it’s the sixth-worst city for minimum wage earners.
Irvine, California has the highest rent at $2,026 a month. Despite its higher minimum wage pay, it’s still too pricey to rent.
Texas and North Carolina both have three big cities where the rent is far higher than minimum wage earners should try to afford on their own.

Best cities for a single-bedroom renter living on minimum wage

Rank	City	State	Population¹	Population rank	Median monthly gross rent²	Hourly minimum wage³	Monthly hours worked at gross minimum wage to afford rent
1	Bakersfield	California	384,159	52	$733	$14.00	52.4
2	Tucson	Arizona	548,082	33	$697	$12.15	57.4
3	Fresno	California	531,581	34	$842	$14.00	60.1
4	Detroit	Michigan	670,052	23	$608	$9.87	61.6
5	Cleveland	Ohio	380,989	53	$579	$8.80	65.8
6	Stockton	California	312,682	62	$927	$14.00	66.2
7	Albuquerque	New Mexico	560,504	32	$740	$10.50	70.5
8	St. Louis	Missouri	300,576	65	$727	$10.30	70.6
9	St. Paul	Minnesota	308,096	63	$890	$12.50	71.2
10	Newark	New Jersey	281,999	73	$860	$12.00	71.7

You can still live in sunny California and make a living wage: both Bakersfield and Stockton ranked in the top 10 best cities for minimum wage earners.
Out of all the cities with over a million people, Chicago is one of the best for livable wage earners. Phoenix, Arizona came in close at 14th best for minimum wage earners.

These days, living alone in a single-bedroom apartment in a bigger city may seem like a distant dream. However, two cities still (theoretically) allow minimum wage earners to only work one job and live there affordably: Bakersfield, California and Tucson, Arizona.

Increasing the federal minimum wage could help millions afford comfortable living, but for now it’s best for workers making minimum wage to try to find an affordable place outside the big city expenses.

Methodology

We analyzed the 75 most populous cities in the United States. We ranked each city by how many hours it would take for a renter to afford the median one-bedroom apartment in those cities while making minimum wage.

If the state/city’s minimum wage is under the federal minimum, we used the $7.25 minimum wage.

Additional expenses like food, insurance, entertainment, and transportation had no impact on the rankings, though some are mentioned occasionally throughout the article. We also didn’t rank these cities based on crime statistics, unemployment rates, access to government services, or other secondary factors.

Though cost of living and income levels both factor into how livable a city might be, these rankings don’t necessarily reflect the overall quality of life for residents.

Sources used

US Census Bureau, “Total Population.” Accessed June 3, 2021.
US Census Bureau, “Median Gross Rent By Bedrooms.” Accessed June 3, 2021.
The Economic Policy Institute, “Minimum Wage Tracker.” Accessed June 3, 2021.

Full dataset

Rank	City	State	Population¹	Population Rank	Median monthly gross rent²	Hourly minimum wage³	Monthly hours worked at gross minimum wage to afford rent
1	Bakersfield	California	384,159	52	$733	$14.00	52.4
2	Tucson	Arizona	548,082	33	$697	$12.15	57.4
3	Fresno	California	531,581	34	$842	$14.00	60.1
4	Detroit	Michigan	670,052	23	$608	$9.87	61.6
5	Cleveland	Ohio	380,989	53	$579	$8.80	65.8
6	Stockton	California	312,682	62	$927	$14.00	66.2
7	Albuquerque	New Mexico	560,504	32	$740	$10.50	70.5
8	St. Louis	Missouri	300,576	65	$727	$10.30	70.6
9	St. Paul	Minnesota	308,096	63	$890	$12.50	71.2
10	Newark	New Jersey	281,999	73	$860	$12.00	71.7
11	Minneapolis	Minnesota	429,605	46	$976	$13.25	73.7
12	Cincinnati	Ohio	303,954	64	$662	$8.80	75.2
13	Chicago	Illinois	2,693,959	3	$1,061	$14.00	75.8
14	Phoenix	Arizona	1,680,988	5	$924	$12.15	76
15	Baltimore	Maryland	593,490	30	$919	$11.75	78.2
16	Sacramento	California	513,620	36	$1,116	$14.00	79.7
17	Mesa	Arizona	517,981	35	$982	$12.15	80.8
18	Colorado Springs	Colorado	478,215	39	$1,003	$12.32	81.4
19	Kansas City	Missouri	495,278	38	$844	$10.30	81.9
20	Wichita	Kansas	389,914	51	$606	$7.25	83.6
21	Lincoln	Nebraska	289,096	68	$770	$9.00	85.6
22	Anchorage municipality	Alaska	288,000	69	$890	$10.34	86.1
23	Denver	Colorado	727,211	19	$1,278	$14.77	86.5
24	Riverside	California	331,369	58	$1,231	$14.00	87.9
25	Portland	Oregon	653,467	26	$1,168	$13.25	88.2
26	Omaha	Nebraska	478,203	40	$804	$9.00	89.3
27	Los Angeles	California	3,979,537	2	$1,372	$15.00	91.5
28	Long Beach	California	462,645	43	$1,294	$14.00	92.4
29	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	655,158	25	$672	$7.25	92.7
30	Tulsa	Oklahoma	401,760	47	$673	$7.25	92.8
31	El Paso	Texas	681,729	22	$680	$7.25	93.8
32	New York	New York	8,336,817	1	$1,415	$15.00	94.3
33	Columbus	Ohio	902,073	14	$847	$8.80	96.3
34	Aurora	Colorado	379,312	54	$1,191	$12.32	96.7
35	Las Vegas	Nevada	651,297	27	$880	$9.00	97.8
36	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	590,157	31	$715	$7.25	98.6
37	Seattle	Washington	753,655	18	$1,671	$16.69	100.1
38	Santa Ana	California	332,332	57	$1,409	$14.00	100.6
39	Louisville/Jefferson County metro government (balance)	Kentucky	617,630	29	$730	$7.25	100.7
40	Lexington-Fayette urban county	Kentucky	323,152	60	$738	$7.25	101.8
41	Oakland	California	433,044	45	$1,484	$14.36	103.3
42	Jacksonville	Florida	911,528	13	$891	$8.56	104.1
43	Anaheim	California	350,351	55	$1,478	$14.00	105.6
44	Memphis	Tennessee	651,088	28	$771	$7.25	106.3
45	Washington	District of Columbia	705,749	20	$1,607	$15.00	107.1
46	Indianapolis (balance)	Indiana	870,340	17	$788	$7.25	108.7
47	San Diego	California	1,423,852	8	$1,539	$14.00	109.9
48	Greensboro	North Carolina	296,725	67	$825	$7.25	113.8
49	Tampa	Florida	399,690	48	$993	$8.56	116
50	New Orleans	Louisiana	390,144	50	$853	$7.25	117.7
51	San Jose	California	1,021,786	10	$1,832	$15.45	118.6
52	Corpus Christi	Texas	326,590	59	$874	$7.25	120.6
53	San Antonio	Texas	1,547,250	7	$875	$7.25	120.7
54	Virginia Beach	Virginia	449,974	44	$1,166	$9.50	122.7
55	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	300,281	66	$891	$7.25	122.9
56	Boston	Massachusetts	694,295	21	$1,661	$13.50	123
57	Urban Honolulu CDP	Hawaii	345,055	56	$1,245	$10.10	123.3
58	San Francisco	California	881,549	16	$2,005	$16.07	124.8
59	Henderson	Nevada	320,190	61	$1,127	$9.00	125.2
60	Miami	Florida	467,968	42	$1,072	$8.56	125.2
61	Arlington	Texas	398,860	49	$940	$7.25	129.7
62	Fort Worth	Texas	913,656	12	$945	$7.25	130.3
63	Houston	Texas	2,316,797	4	$954	$7.25	131.6
64	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1,584,064	6	$964	$7.25	133
65	Orlando	Florida	287,435	70	$1,147	$8.56	134
66	Durham	North Carolina	279,447	74	$983	$7.25	135.6
67	Dallas	Texas	1,343,565	9	$1,001	$7.25	138.1
68	Raleigh	North Carolina	474,708	41	$1,046	$7.25	144.3
69	Irvine	California	287,387	71	$2,026	$14.00	144.7
70	Nashville	Tennessee	668,580	24	"$1,074"	$7.25	148.1
71	Charlotte	North Carolina	885,707	15	$1,082	$7.25	149.2
72	Austin	Texas	979,263	11	$1,186	$7.25	163.6
73	Plano	Texas	285,849	72	$1,192	$7.25	164.4
74	Atlanta	Georgia	506,804	37	"$1,283"	$7.25	177

Written by

Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts is a professional writer with a degree in writing studies and over four years of copywriting experience. He previously worked at Overstock.com, where he wrote about furniture, home decor, and moving. Joe has moved all over Utah, so he knows his way around a moving truck—and he spends his time (and money) expanding his personal library so it will be even heavier next time he moves.

The Least and Most Affordable Big Cities for Minimum Wage Earners 2021

The worst cities for a single-bedroom renter living on minimum wage

Best cities for a single-bedroom renter living on minimum wage

Methodology

Sources used

Full dataset

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