Even at $15 an hour, Twin Cities renters must work overtime for a decent apartment

As workers celebrate a hard-won minimum wage hike in Minneapolis, a new report presents a sobering picture on the persistent gap between wages and housing costs across the state.

To afford rent on a modest one bedroom apartment in Minnesota, people need to be making more like $19 an hour, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Minnesota Housing Partnership.

Otherwise, a Twin Cities renter would have to work 70 hours a week at the statewide minimum wage of $9.50, and a non-metro renter would have to work 45 hours.

Increasing the minimum wage to $15 -- which Minneapolis will get to by 2024 -- would help reduce those hours. But urban renters will still need to work overtime for the opportunity to live in a place that separates the bedroom from the den.

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/news/even-at-15-an-hour-twin-cities-renters-must-work-overtime-for-a-decent-apartment/431779013