This Is the Salary You Need to Afford the Average Home in Your State

Before you buy a home, it’s important to find out if you can afford the monthly mortgage payment.

To do this, some financial experts recommend your housing costs — primarily your mortgage payments — shouldn’t consume more than 30 percent of your monthly income. With this rule of thumb in mind, GOBankingRates looked at home prices and mortgage rates in every state and estimated the minimum salary needed to afford the average home. READ MORE

Rich states, poor states: How a federal minimum wage hike would widen the gap

With growing enthusiasm for lifting the federal minimum wage in Congress, it’s time to consider some data on wages and differences in the cost of living across the 50 states. The Raise the Wage Act, introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., in January with broad support from his party, would raise the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour (where it has been since 2009) to $15.00 in 2024. READ MORE

Why are wage gains so weak?

After correcting for inflation, wage gains remain sluggish. In April, average weekly earnings for nonsupervisory workers were up 3 percent from a year earlier, to $785.55. Meanwhile, prices as measured by the consumer price index were up 2 percent. Considering that the economy has been expanding for nearly a full decade — a record if it continues through June — this is perplexing, even allowing that wages are growing faster at the top than in the middle. READ MORE