In South Dakota, we're accustomed to paying less for most things compared to the national average, but also making less money than workers in other states. When it comes to renting an apartment here it turns out we're in pretty good shape financially.

According to figures just released by the National Low Income House Coalition, the average person in the Mount Rushmore state would need to earn $13.77 ($28,642 annually) an hour to afford rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment in the state. Workers in only West Virginia ($13.17) and Arkansas ($13.26) would need to earn less per hour to make rent. Nationally, that number is $20.30 an hour.

At South Dakota's current minimum wage ($8.55 per hour), that means working 64 hours would be enough to afford rent each month. Only workers in West Virginia ($8.75 minimum wage) would need to work less - 49 hours.

In South Dakota, Pennington Country has the highest two-bedroom housing wage - $15.87 per hour. In Minnehaha County it's $14.33.

At the other end of the scale, residents of Hawaii (the most expensive state) would need to earn $34.22 per hour, while renters in San Francisco (the most expensive city) would need to bring in $44.02 to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

The NLIHC has put together a complete fact sheet.

The general rule of thumb is that no more than 30 percent of your income should go to rent.


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