$11-12/hr is poverty everywhere in the US.

$12/hr is about $24k/yr, which appears to be double the poverty level for one person: https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines

Not saying $24k is a lot of money, just pointing out how low the poverty line actually is in government regulations.

I don’t think you realize how cheap most of the US is. If you get 40 hours a week, that’s $2,100 per month. You can rent a 2BR in Des Moines for $700 per month; split that with a roommate and your rent is $350. That probably leaves about $1,300-1,400 which is totally doable for a single person. (I spent less than that after rent while I was in law school, and I went out all the time, etc.)

At some point an adult doesn't want a roommate.

Usually the adult exchanges a roommate for a spouse, who also works to help pay the rent.

> Usually the adult exchanges a roommate for a spouse, who also works to help pay the rent.

and then, a child comes along.

And you can have a kid in a 2BR and its not “poverty.”

Is that how it usually works? That's not what my wife says... oh.

When I got my first job after I got my CS degree in 2007, my rent was under $400 without a roommate and my base pay was about $18/hr. I thought that was pretty good, because it was a real hourly rate, with a significant bonus for overtime.

Well at some point an adult has to stop making entry level wages at a startup as well.

Then you need to go to the ER and suddenly you owe $25,000. Oops.

Austin may be skewing your perspective due to the recent run up in rent, I know more than one person who lives on $11/hr. Most don't live on the coasts or in a major city though! Housing is really cheap in some parts of the US, though it isn't a great life to earn that little after getting a college degree.