SALT LAKE CITY — You might not be wrong if you feel like you are constantly working to afford where you live. A new report byRedfinreports that Utah minimum-wage workers have to work 156 hours a week to afford a median-priced apartment.
The report defines an apartment as affordable if a renter making minimum wage spends 30% of their income on rent. The company used median asking rents for three months ending January 31, 2025, and used wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
“It’s obviously not realistic for most people to clock into their job for over 100 hours a week, but this thought experiment shines light on the massive rental affordability gap between the average American and our country’s lowest earners,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.
Across the nation, the median-priced apartment was priced at $1,599 a month, meaning that minimum-wage workers would have to work 106 hours a week to afford it. That is actually down from the peak of 125 hours a week in 2022.
Experts with Redfin say that the median-average rent across the country is down 6.2% or about $105 a month from its record high in 2022. However, apartments are still 20.4% or $271 a month more expensive than they were pre-pandemic in January 2020.
According to Redfin's analysis, it would take the average minimum-wage worker 32 hours per week just to cover the cost of rent alone, with no money left for other expenses, assuming they rent the median-priced apartment in the U.S.
Utah's 156 hours a week work rate is actually an improvement, according to the report, over 2024's numbers. In 2024, experts estimated that Utahns who make minimum wage would have to work 164 hours a week.
Utah's median-priced apartment, according to the report, costs $1,473 a month. That's a 5% drop in price over 2024.
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Where are workers having to put in the most to get housing?
According to Redfin, New Hampshire workers making minimum wage would have to work 224 hours a week to afford the state's median-priced apartment. Experts say in the Granite State, the median price of an apartment is $2,110 a month, and minimum wage is still at the federal level of $7.25 an hour.
Pennsylvania workers came in second in the most hours to work for housing at 183 hours.
Where are workers able to afford housing?
The state of South Dakota is the state where minimum-wage workers would have to work the least to afford housing. According to Redfin's analysis, someone making the state's minimum wage of $11.20 an hour would only have to work 75 hours a week to afford the median-priced apartment. That price comes in at $1,085 a month.
The next most affordable states for rent, Missouri and Nebraska, were tied at 76 hours a week. However, experts with Redfin note that all three states have below-average asking rents. For example, South Dakota's median asking rent is 32.1% below the national median rent.
