A report from Howmuch.com highlighted how much income is needed to afford an average priced home in each state. Hawaii residents needed the most money at $153,520 per year, with DC and California coming in next at $138,440 and $120,120 respectively.
Legislators in DC, California and several other cities and states have helped working families afford their high costs of living by increasing the minimum wage. The Hawaii Democratic Party, however, has left local workers worse off than any other state.
Families here have to work more than 290 hours per week at minimum wage to be able to afford an average priced home, by far the most in the nation and 146 hours more than twice the national average. The next closest is Utah at 222 hours per week, followed by California at 210 and DC at 201.
Minimum wages in DC and California are set to increase even more to $15 per hour and then adjust for inflation, giving workers there even more of an opportunity to afford their cost of living. While Hawaii has the nation's highest cost of living, the minimum wage is stagnant at $10.10 with no plans to increase it.
Living Wage Hawaii will be hosting an event this Saturday, April 14th at Kapiolani Park at noon to draw attention to this issue.
Sources: https://www.zillow.com/home-values/ https://howmuch.net/sources/salary-to-afford-the-average-home-in-your-state http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx