1. After reviewing MIT’s Living Wage Calculator it showed that where I live, which is Brazoria County Texas just north of Galveston I should be making $16.16 hourly, And this is for a single person, no children. Could I survive off that monthly? not here, $16.16 an hour came up to 33,612.00 before taxes and 26,890.0 after taxes, Luckily like I have said in previous DBs that I am an electrician by trade and make plenty more than what the chart suggested, “PLUS” I am union as well, Now per the chart, yes it does give you an Avg. hourly rate but for my chosen profession which is an (LCDC) Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor through zip recruter they are showing the pay is currently $20.28 an hour $42,188. a year & that amount I could survive on!
The chart gave 9,646.00 for housing that averages out to 803,83 a month an rent in this area in most cases 1300.00 so that is a 500.00 $ difference than they say, unless you have an RV or own a piece of property, Possibly find an itty bitty efficiency aprtment even then you are still looking at at least 900.00$ a month not including bills, e.g. water, power, etc…
I have no auto bills so I could not calculate that one, My vehicle is paid for & no desire to buy another.
We are asked what services are available in my area for low-income families or those living in poverty & there are actually quite a few especially since I live so close to the Houston suburb. But there are two (2) specific ones that I know of for a fact & I will be attaching a link for these two(2) the first is Brazoria county indigent help and the other is the United Way of Brazoria County, Bot very worthy causes & I have volunteered at both several times.
Regards,
Wes T.
2.
I stay in Universal City Texas in Bexar County. The living wage for my state/city for 1 adult because all my children are very much grown is $16.39. The desired profession is a licensed social worker yes I would be able to survive with this job because the salary for social workers in my state is between $45,000-$60,000 within my area. My expenses personally is not a lot because I own my home and my cars so I only pay for health insurance but because I’m a retired vet it’s not that much and adding that to my food expense, utilities it’s not much more other than extra activities I might want to do like travel or something.
The average household income is $64,115 and per capita income is $34,255. Technically if I was making $16.39 an hour that would be $34,091 which is not that much off of the per capita household income so yes it is meeting. Some sources in my area that help low-income families or those living in poverty are low-income housing for people who are struggling to get into a place and may not meet the regular requirements of income for a regular apartment. Another agency to help families in poverty is the church also does food drives, shelters, and more for those in need. Not only does the Texas housing assistance work with getting to a house it also helps provide food, and help with utilities.