You Have To Work A 104 Hours A Week To Afford Living In Texas?

It's natural for the cost of living to go up from year to year. As the costs of goods and everything else jump, so do things like rent. It's been rising steadily in Texas for some time now, but the latest numbers are just staggering.

Over the last year or so, we've seen a significant increase in the cost of living, namely housing in the state. It's truly getting to the point where it's almost unaffordable, especially if you aren't making enough money at your job.

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COST OF A ONE-BEDROOM APARTMENT

This is a statistic I saw that is absolutely staggering. The cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Texas has risen 30% in the last year. Think about that, 30%. A place you were paying $800 a month for a year ago is now running you roughly $1040 a month.

That's a crazy increase, and trying to come up with an extra $240 a month isn't always the easiest task. That is something that could force one to move to a cheaper place if you can find one, or have to take on a second job just to make ends meet.

CURRENT TEXAS MINIMUM WAGE

Ok, so let's say you're earning minimum wage at your job. It's not ideal for life in general, but maybe it's all you can find right now. That means you're making $7.25 an hour at your job. That's hardly enough to be able to afford a place over $1000 a month.

Most places want to see you make a 3:1 ratio, so if you make say $3000 a month at your job, then the most you should spend is $1000 a month on rent. Most places won't even rent to you if you don't meet this qualification.

MINIMUM WAGE VS WHAT YOU SHOULD MAKE

If you make minimum wage, in order to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Texas you'd need to work 104 hours PER WEEK just to get to that 3:1 ratio places will be requiring. That's obviously not feasible for anyone. There are only 168 hours in a week. If you break that down, you'd literally work, take an hour to eat dinner, then get your eight hours of sleep. That's not a way to live.

In order to comfortably afford a one-bedroom apartment in Texas while still sticking to a 40-hour work week, you need to be making a minimum of $18.79 per hour, or $39,000 per year if you're salaried. Those jobs aren't the easiest to find, but they're out there.

The bottom line is the economy is making it very hard to live period. If you can't afford a simple one-bedroom apartment by making less than $18 an hour, then things need to change across the country.

The good news is, Buc-ee's is hiring and they pay you what you need in order to cover that apartment cost. Definitely check them out if you're struggling.