Actually, it depends on how you look at it. Minimum wage in 1970 was just $1.60. If you Google it, you will be told it is $13.00 to $13.65 in today's dollars. But some of that might be cheaper electronics. Using gas or car prices, it would be closer to $16. Using home prices, it is more like $32. So how did they get to the $66 figure? It comes mainly from this guy, not a news source. It seems he arrived at the $66 figure by assuming the cost of a mortgage on an average home is 1/4 of your gross. But if median home prices have only gone up 20X, how do they get to 40X? Mortgage rates are about the same now as then. Given the 1970 minimum wage, the average home mortgage would be 69% of their gross income. So there would be no way for them to afford the average home from the $66/hr formula. If you sub in the 69% instead of the 25% assumed to get to the $66 figure, it comes to $11.21/hr. To flip that around, a minimum wage of $7.25/hr and 40 hours per week is just $290. Or about 25% of your monthly gross income. Not sure what you are going to find to rent, much less mortgage, at $290 per month. At $11.21/hr it is a little better at $448.40. That would almost cover half the rent on the average 2-bedroom at 50% of your gross. Granted, it goes farther in the cheapest locations.
