ATLANTA — It's no secret Atlanta cost of living is on the rise - but it might surprise you to learn it's made the city perhaps the worst in the whole country to live in while earning minimum wage.
That's where one recent report ranks Atlanta: Dead last. The report, issued earlier this month by move.org, an informational website for the moving industry, placed Atlanta as the least affordable place to live in the country for minimum wage earners.
The report cited cities' local minimum wage standards and median monthly gross rent for a single-bedroom apartment, and calculated how many hours of work it would take at the local minimum wage to get an apartment at the local rate.
In Atlanta, the report said it would take 177 hours - over 12 hours more than the next-worst city, Plano, Tex.
The report listed Atlanta with a $7.25 hourly minimum, which is the federal minimum allowed. And it said the median monthly gross rent for a single-bedroom apartment was $1,283, based on data from the Census Bureau.
That may not even capture the full scope - another recent report said Atlanta's average monthly rent had risen from $1,527 to $1,636 since the start of the pandemic, a 7.1% increase.
Some of the other cities that ranked poorly in the report included Dallas, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville and Orlando. Many of the best cities to live in on minimum wage were clustered in the North and California, where state laws mandate a higher minimum wage.
"You should be wary of places with a current federal minimum of $7.25 per hour and high rent - they’re likely unaffordable," the report warns.