~$30 dollars an hour is, across the whole country broadly, just shy of a basic, liveable wage.

~$30 dollars an hour is what the minimum wage would now be, if it was still as it was originally intended to be, a wage allowing for a reasonably comfortable, non poverty existence.

If you think those are respectable numbers, you've normalized the idea of tens of millions of people living in poverty.

https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/average-rent-by-year

If trends continue, the average renter will pay $19,801 in 2025 ($1,650/month).

There ya go, 1:3 rent to income ratio means you need to make ~$60k to afford the average apartment.

Annual rent per square foot in 2025 is an estimated $27.67//ft2, up 47.3% from 2020 ($18.79/ft2).

Yep, ~50% increase in rent prices in 5 years.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/renter-households-cost-burdened-race.html

A household has on average ~2.6 people, so thats uh, ~55 million people that couldn't really afford rent in 2023... and those are the people who have since 2023ish been putting everything on credit, on klarna, on afterpay... you don't even want to know how bad the US looks if you take net wealth into the equation... basically, at least 25% of US households have negative net wealth, and that's obviously going to be more concentrated amongst those who can't afford rent.

And no, I'm not using the US gov's definiton(s) of 'poverty', because they are bullshit that doesn't account for what I have above described.

Also, thanks Mr. Trump, bye bye Section 8, bye bye foodstamps/EBT, bye bye Medicaid! I'm sure all those things weren't helpful or needed by anyone struggling to afford rent.