If you live in San Carlos or Redwood City, California–near San Francisco, but not the most expensive part of the Bay Area–and have a minimum-wage job in retail or at a coffee shop, you won’t make enough to afford a typical studio apartment.
The county’s “housing wage,” or the amount you’d need to make per hour to spend no more than 30% of your income on rent, is $38.73 an hour. The minimum wage in Redwood City, though it will soon increase, is $11. To afford a two-bedroom apartment, you’d need to make more than $60 an hour.
