July 26, 2021
Protesters gather Monday morning outside Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s office on Camelback Road in central Phoenix. Police arrested 39 people – including the Rev. Jesse Jackson – at the sit-in. (Photo by Emma Ascott/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – Full-time minimum wage workers can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment in any state, according to a recent report from affordable housing advocates, and with housing costs skyrocketing in Arizona, many workers are struggling.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual Out of Reach report, those workers in 93% of U.S. counties can’t afford a one-bedroom, either. In Arizona, workers would need to put in 73 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom rental. Excluding weekends, that’s 14.6 hours per day. Still, that’s better than the national average of 97 hours per week, the report said.