Cost of Living & Stagnant Salaries Stronger together — we deserve better.
- Annie Marie
- Sep 6
- 7 min read
Cost of Living and Stagnant Salaries
Do you know what the average cost of housing rentals are in the United States right now? What about the average cost of living by state? Inflation for the people is real. The job market is not just challenging. It is a means to someone's life. How can someone accept a job offer if the wages will not cover the basic needs to live? Employers don’t want to raise salaries and home owners are charging outrageous prices for rental units.
We have a huge gap here and we need to look at solutions to fill the gap. A quick search and we can find the average cost of rentals in the United States is reported in the range of $1,600–$1,750 per month (RentCafe June 2025). Diving into the state of North Carolina where I currently reside the range is up to $2,500 a month for rent (WorldPopulationReview 2025).
Diving deeper into the calculation – let’s say we are lucky enough to find housing that will meet our family needs at $1,600 per month. This lower end would require someone to have a total gross income of $57,600 per year or $27.69 per hour in order for their income to qualify to live in at the property. Recently, I was looking for housing to meet my family’s needs and found that 3–4 bedrooms we need, in my area actually were closer to the $2,000 per month range.
This means in order to obtain the housing needed for my family I need a salary of $72,000 a year or $34.62 per hour. This is just to qualify for a rental unit. Without moving into a bigger home at this time, I still would need to make at least $62,400 per year or $30 per hour. When we take the bigger picture into consideration, what used to feel like a good paying job, no longer is.
Recently a recruiter reached out to me about a position where I would need to relocate to Arizona. The offer was for $90,000–$105,000 per year; initially, I thought this would work. I have been looking forward to a move. At first glance or in my current living situation this would be an ideal salary range. However, then I decided to do a deep dive in the cost of living for Arizona. I found the wage being offered for the location was not justifiable. To maintain my current standard of living I would need closer to $132,000 per year or $63.46 per hour (Investopedia, Cost of Living Differences). These are not abstract figures — they’re the truth. Unfortunately, I had to opt not to pursue the position.
Right now groceries and household necessities are the second highest on the list. For my household of 3 it is averaging between $250 and $300 per week to feed the family and ensure we have a clean home, clothes, and bodies. We don’t eat meat every day maybe once or twice a week, and we don’t buy a bunch of highly processed snack foods. For my family food with basic household items is averaging around $15,600 per year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. household spent about $9,343 per person on food in 2023 (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey), so even our frugal shopping is below national per-capita averages.
That’s an enormous baseline cost before taxes, utilities, transportation, and healthcare.
Why Am I Telling You This?
Because we have the power to do something if we band together, speak out, ask for action from our legislators, employers, and have real conversations. Yes, everyone wants to make a profit. At what point is it enough though? Sure, higher ups deserve higher wages but if they lack the care and concern for the employees and don’t start accounting for the cost of living — does that show they care? Why should we dedicate over half our waking hours to any organization if just our basic needs of housing and food cannot be covered?
As a Business Manager for a local manufacturing company, I was brought into a conversation with the General Manager and Vice President. They asked me about being able to attract and maintain employees. They did not like what I had to say and even used what I had to say against me in a review! I told them it was the wages and the cost of living and that we were falling short in meeting these needs. The immediate response I received was “well they have to take into consideration we are a small company.”
“Why should we dedicate over half our waking hours to any organization if just our basic needs can't be met?”
That ended the conversation. Honestly, NO, we absolutely do not need to consider the size of your company! If you run a small business and can’t afford to pay employees enough to just live then you shouldn’t be in business. It is that simple. Yes, I like small businesses and want to see them flourish, but you can’t expect us to work for you if we can’t even qualify for basic housing or afford to put food on our families’ tables.
However, for this small business could afford to pay more. When I see purchases of $6,000 golf club tickets, increasing your salary by thousands of dollars, and giving up yearly bonuses of thousands of dollars to salaried employees, you have the money to pay your employees a better wage! I would give up yearly bonuses, if I knew it would go to the front-line workers.
Let’s face it though, even larger organizations do the same to frontline workers. They admit we are the most important. Usually, we are customer or client facing or maintaining a sort of business relationship for them. While all the great positive feedback sounds good and can even make a person feel good, start paying us like we are important. Adjust our wages so we are not scrounging to feed our families.
So What Can We Do?
First thing to do is calculate your bottom line, and don’t accept or apply to a position for any organization who does not meet your bottom line. It may make you nervous but if you are able to hold out longer and get your mindset in a place, to not accept less, then the right offer will come along for you.
Second, we can control pricing. Yes, it would take some time, but when our voices rise together we can do more. We are stronger together. Every great movement from the end of slavery to women’s right to vote all started with a movement. We came together, ensured our voices were heard and initiated these changes.
The government already has a good plan in place to control the cost of housing. They do it with their Section 8 vouchers. Vouchers are given based on the number of bedrooms and not the size of the house. Section 8 will pay more for a 3 or 4 bedroom than they will pay for a 1 bedroom. The Section 8 housing module could be referenced to determine what reasonable rentals should cost.
We could have bills passed that standard housing — let’s say any house or apartment which is 2,000 sq ft and under — is considered basic housing. They could cap what landlords are authorized to charge and use local Section 8 guidelines for what is acceptable rent (HUD Fair Market Rents). This isn’t to create an economy based on socialism but to take control of the situation. Other basic costs such as food, water, and utilities could also have a regulated cost structure.
Have you ever wondered why it costs more to feed a family more whole foods, fruits, and vegetables than highly processed foods?
These are necessities and we deserve to be able to obtain them. People wouldn’t always want to or need to switch jobs. People look for something different most of the time because they need increases to keep up with inflation and the continuous increases in living. Companies don’t keep up with providing raises based on the economic conditions, but they will increase their prices for the consumers.
There actually might be more people in positions they are supposed to be in and in areas they are truly gifted in if Cost of Living Wages were paid. Take teachers for example. They have such a significant impact on our children that we entrust to them all day. Yet most teachers come in making around $40,000 per year. I worked in the public school for 3 years. I greatly enjoyed working with the children, mentoring and guiding them. Unfortunately, I had to leave after I spent one summer without the means to feed my own children at home.
What Else Can We Do?
We can get a living wage mandate. Minimum Wage should equal Living Wages! There are so many studies and information about each state. We have the data to impose a minimum wage which reflects the average cost of living in each state (MIT Living Wage Calculator). Why are we not using this to make decisions on how we pay our employees?
We can also change the “At Will” employment clause for our states. I mention this because of the job economy and many unjustified cases of termination which are on the rise. Terminating an employee can upend someone’s whole life. Especially in a time when we see so many job board scams. From a human-to-human point of view, we all have a right to live and have our basic necessities met.
If a job, the very thing that pays for our basic necessities, is able to be taken without just cause — that means an employer is given the right to say, “we don’t think you’re good enough to have housing or food.” What is a probation period for? We didn’t leave or bypass other employment and say “hey, I have the right to come back to my position if I don’t pass my probation period.” Or even when employees have made it past their probation period.
We The People
We the people deserve more. We are all forms of life. Coach, train, and upskill your employees that you do have. Landlords, have a heart. Regulators, put a stop to this nonsense. This is supposed to be America, Land of the Brave, Home of the Free. Make America Great Again! This has nothing to do with the Trump Administration; this has to do with our lives.
Know Your Bottom Line Don't settle for job offers that don't cover your real costs. Hold out — the right offer will come.
Collective Voice to Influence Policy Rent control tied to housing size, guided by Section 8 standards — not to be socialist, but to stabilize lives.
Living Wage Mandate Minimum wage must reflect real cost of living, state by state — we have the data to do it.
Protect Employees from “At-Will” Abuse Losing a job should not mean losing your home or your stability. Just-cause termination puts humanity first.
What are your thoughts and experiences? Share a comment below or Contact me to share your personal story and insights.
Lovingly Me,
Annie Marie
This article really hits home. Especially at a time where I am seeking employment to care for my family. It is sad when you hear about people searching for employment for months and months who are over looked.