Rent for a typical one- or two-bedroom apartment is unaffordable for low wage-earners in Vermont, according to a national housing study. National Low Income Housing Coalition says a minimum hourly wage of $13.42 is needed in Vermont to afford the average rent.
There’s no state in the country where the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is adequate to pay for rent. Vermont ranks exactly in the middle of the states in the hourly wage needed. California and Massachusetts require the highest income to afford rent at roughly $21 an hour each. The lowest wages needed are West Virginia and North Dakota at more than $9 an hour.