Austonia AM
100% Austin news, info, and entertainment, straight to your inbox at 6 a.m. every morning.
In five minutes, you're fully informed and ready to start another great day in our city.
×
Workers fight for a $15 minimum wage in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2016. (Fibonacci Blue)
Living in Austin costs more than the $2,400/month income of full-time $15/hour employees and that's without adding to a savings account. Alongside Plano, the 13th least affordable city studied, Austin is also one of the only cities on the most expensive end to not have a local minimum wage higher than $7.25/hour.
The study analyzed 99 cities, all with a population of more than 250,000, and factored in average costs toward rent, utilities, income taxes, transportation and food. The study does not take car expenses, phone bills, loans, insurance or property taxes into account.
With rent skyrocketing to record median price levels month-after-month and a booming housing market, it's no surprise that Austin is around a thousand dollars more expensive a month than the cheapest U.S. city on the list—Albuquerque, New Mexico. In Laredo, Texas' least expensive city studied, residents can pocket as much as $774 after paying for living costs.
Move Buddha ranked the 25 most and least affordable cities for $15/hour wage workers, with Austin at No. 22 on the list. (moveBuddha.com)
With the average rent in Austin at a record $1,442 a month (60% of a $15/hour workers' income), Austin joins the growing ranks of U.S. cities that can no longer follow the "minimum wage should be a living wage" mantra championed by worker's rights groups.
Austin's rapid-fire growth is still far from the six most expensive cities, all of which are in California. All but $39 of a minimum wage worker's salary in Irvine, which tops the list, would have to go toward rent. Unsurprisingly, San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim and Chula Vista follow suit.
But many cities and states on the list have already instituted wages near what the fight for $15 movement has been working toward for years. In California, which constitutes 11 of the 25 most expensive cities studied, the state minimum wage sits at $14/hour, and San Francisco's minimum wage is elevated to $16.32/hour. Seattle and New York have similar heightened wage rates.
Just as a federal minimum wage of $15/hour slowly edges closer to reality, it becomes more evident that living on that wage alone isn't feasible in many U.S. cities. According to a Harvard University study, a quarter of U.S. renters now spend 50% or more of their salary on rent. That's well above the recommended budget, which puts rent at a third of monthly costs.
From Your Site Articles
- Who is homeless in Austin, and why? - austonia ›
- Buc-ee's avoids national workers shortage with benefits - austonia ›
- San Francisco Chronicle say Californians driving Austin's housing ... ›
- Austin is one of the least affordable cities in the country - austonia ›
- Austin homes more expensive than ever - austonia ›
- Austin housing market sees faster growth outside city limits - austonia ›
- Austin housing market broke records in 2020 despite COVID ... ›
- Austin's hot housing market ups down payments, barriers - austonia ›
- Austin's housing market is hot, but buyers feel burned out - austonia ›
- Austin housing market set new records in May—but at a cost - austonia ›
- On the ground of Austin's 'brutal' housing market - austonia ›
- Austin housing market keeps setting new price records - austonia ›
- Austin rental market continues post-COVID recovery in June - austonia ›
- Austin rents continue post-COVID rise thanks to homes frenzy ... ›
- Austin leads U.S. tech hubs in post-pandemic rent rebound - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Popular
Californians are moving to Austin in droves, affecting home prices in the area. (Shutterstock)
Thousands of newcomers from the Golden State are taking comfort in the Hill Country's rolling hills, budding wine scene and warm weather, the Chronicle writes, while also taking advantage of higher affordability and a better quality of life.
Douglas Yearley, CEO of luxury Central Texas homebuilder Toll Brothers, said that much of that jump is due to Californians, the Chronicle reported. "The pricing power of Austin, which is number one in the country, is driven by California, plain and simple," Yearley said.
It's not all sunny skies
Home prices are being driven up swiftly in Central Texas as newcomers pile in. The Austin metro brings in over 180 people a day, more than anywhere else in the country.
The latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors revealed the median home price reached an all-time high of $566,500 in May, jumping nearly 35% year-over-year.
Meanwhile, California lost residents for the first time in its history last year, with San Francisco losing around 1.3% of its population. Austin is projected to soon become America's 10th largest city, a seemingly symbolic shift as it bumps down current No. 10 San Jose.
It seems the days of the Gold Rush are long gone. Real estate broker Ray Shapley, who helped Californians Josh and Jessi Rubbicco find a home in Austin, told the Chronicle that migration patterns are undergoing a massive overhaul across the country.
"I think the last few decades kind of belong to California. I think the next few decades might belong to Central Texas," Shapley said. "As someone who was born here and loves Central Texas the way it is, I don't know that I necessarily love that."
Shapley's fears are echoed by many Austinites who aren't sure the city is ready to tackle such a large housing boom.
Looking in the mirror
The article admitted that some of Austin's problems reflect that of California. Homelessness has been at the forefront of local politics for years, and the affordability crisis is only increasing in severity as supply-and-demand runs its course in the city.
The difference between Austin and its Golden State counterparts, however, is that the Texas capital's issues may still be solvable. By contrast, the Chronicle reported that many of the Bay Area's crises are deeply entrenched.
While the median home price has grown in the Austin metro, it's nearly triple that ($1.3 million) in the nine-county Bay Area. There isn't enough housing in Austin, but the Bay Area's homelessness crisis could take a whopping $11.3 billion to resolve.
Even property taxes, which are higher in Texas and ever-changing, are worth the better quality of life and sense of community, Josh Rubbicco told the Chronicle. "I feel like we have more friends here now than we've ever had in California," Rubbicco said. "People were so welcoming and friendly."
Austin is also the trendy new HQ for companies—a record 22,114 jobs were introduced from companies moving or expanding in the metro last year, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce—but issues or not, the Bay Area's role in tech isn't going anywhere, University of Texas associate professor Jake Weggman, who studies housing, told the Chronicle.
"I don't think any of that's going away in the Bay Area. But I do think that the Bay Area is headed for a future where it's a little bit less dynamic... more slow-growing," Weggmann said. "Austin is going to be more fast-growing and dynamic and fast-changing."
From Your Site Articles
- Little California: Techsodus transplants love Austin, but does the city ›
- Oracle moves headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin - austonia ›
- 'Boomtown' Austin leads the country in tech migration - austonia ›
- Hollywood's Line 204 Studios moving to Austin, Bastrop area ... ›
- California man warns against moving to Austin in Op-Ed - austonia ›
- Californian Texodus is affecting Texas on a national political scale ... ›
- California tech employees move to austin for business and way of ... ›
- Austin's growing tech industry deepens labor shortage - austonia ›
- 1. Austin really is a 'Hotel California' - austonia ›
- Migration insights of Austin, who is moving to the city and who is ... ›
- Even a raised minimum wage in Austin wouldn't cut it, study says - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
