The writer says she rented a one-bedroom apartment in Lubbock for $400 in 2009. Zillow now lists the average one-bedroom at $700, which she says still strains anyone earning minimum wage. She adds that what $700 a month gets you in Lubbock is not desirable.
She then runs the numbers on a $12 hourly wage. Working 40 hours every week, that comes to $2,080 a month before taxes. With rent at $1,393, she says, $687 is left for utilities, groceries, transportation and insurance. Many landlords also want proof that a renter earns three times the monthly rent, so getting approved can be a problem before the first payment.
For folks in Lubbock living close to minimum wage, her point is that the squeeze starts long before any splurge. She pushes back on the idea that canceling Netflix or skipping Starbucks fixes it. Some people are not bad with money, she says. They just do not have enough of it. Friends of hers spent years in college expecting a degree to bring financial security and now struggle with bills.
The $400 apartment is long gone, but the state minimum wage from that same year is still on the books.