In 2025, the federal minimum wage is officially a “poverty wage.” The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25 an hour now fall below the poverty threshold of $15,650 (established by the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines). The limitations of how the federal government calculates poverty understate how far the minimum wage is from economic security for workers and their families.
A lot of those states with higher minimum wage also have a higher cost of living, though, so it’s not all cut and dry.
Nowhere in the country can you afford rent on minimum wage. Not in cities, not in small towns, not in bum fuck nowheresville cheapest red state with no single public services .