Answer: Tucson, Arizona

From the city with the most millionaires to the city where you can live most comfortably on a minimum-wage job, that's quite a socioeconomic journey to take. 

Questions:

1. Who sets the minimum wage? Federal government? State? City?
2. Have you had a job that paid the minimum wage?  What kind of work were you doing?
3. What types of jobs are typically considered “minimum wage jobs?” Are they typically full or part-time jobs?
4. What do you think is a fair minimum-wage for your state? Explain your answer.

Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers: From CNBC reporting on GoBankingRates study:

To determine where someone can realistically live off the minimum wage, personal finance website GOBankingRates researched the median rent for one-bedroom apartments in 100 of the most populous U.S. cities. They also looked at costs of groceries, utilities and transportation for those metro areas.

Here are the top 10:

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Looking for another location-based activity? Have students assess the credit health of their community in this NGPF Activity: Analyze: Credit Across U.S. Communities 

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

More posts by Tim

Danielle Bautista

Danielle is a native of Southern California and a recent graduate from the University of Maine, where she braved the frigid winters—a feat in and of itself—and earned her Bachelor's degree in International Affairs. She has a passion for working with non-profit organizations and serving populations in underprivileged communities. When Danielle isn't writing NGPF blog posts, spearheading various outreach projects, or managing contests and flash surveys, you can find her doing some sort of outdoor activity, learning a new hobby, or cracking what she thinks are witty puns!

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