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Retail Pay Falls Far Short of Rent: Median Worker Earns Less Than Half of What's Needed

02:13 AM, 11/30/2025
Retail Pay Falls Far Short of Rent: Median Worker Earns Less Than Half of What's Needed

Redfin finds the median U.S. retail worker earns $34,436 a year — under half of the roughly $71,000 needed to afford a typical rental. At today’s median rent of $1,779, a retail employee would need about 83 hours a week to keep housing costs under 30% of income. The shortfall is largest in expensive metros such as New York and Boston, and none of the 50 metros analyzed are affordable for retail workers. Wages are rising about 3% year over year while rents are up roughly 2%, slightly narrowing the gap.

As the holiday shopping season approaches, many Americans will head to stores — but behind the counters, a large share of retail employees struggle to afford a standard apartment.

Key findings

Redfin’s analysis shows the median U.S. retail worker earns $34,436 a year — less than half of the roughly $71,000 annual income needed to rent a typical apartment today. At the current median rent of $1,779 per month, a retail worker would have to work about 83 hours per week to keep housing costs below the 30 percent affordability guideline.

“Since most retail workers don’t earn enough to afford the typical apartment, many are opting to share rent with a family member or friend, move far away from their job, or live in a very small space,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather.

The gap is especially severe in high-cost metros. In New York City, retail workers fall nearly $96,000 short of the income required to afford a typical apartment — a 71 percent shortfall, the largest among the 50 metropolitan areas Redfin studied. In Boston, renters would need to earn nearly $115,000 a year — more than $76,000 above the region’s median retail wage. Miami, San Diego and San Jose are also among the metros with the largest disparities.

By contrast, Cleveland, St. Louis and San Antonio recorded the smallest shortfalls, but none of the 50 metros analyzed meet the 30 percent rent-to-income affordability standard for retail workers. Even retail employees in the top 25% of earners still make roughly 44% less than they would need to afford the typical apartment in their area.

Labor market and affordability trends

The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects employers to add between 265,000 and 365,000 seasonal workers this year — potentially the fewest in more than 15 years. The NRF attributes the drop in seasonal hiring to growing online sales, a cooling economy and a slower labor market, though it still projects holiday sales may top $1 trillion for the first time.

There are modest signs of improvement: retail wages have been rising at about 3% year over year, while rents have increased closer to 2%, narrowing the gap slightly. Redfin estimates the current gap between retail wages and typical rent at 52%, improved from a 57% shortfall in October 2022. Slower rent growth is partly attributed to an apartment construction boom during the pandemic that curbed landlords’ ability to push rents higher.

Sources: Redfin analysis; quote from Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist; hiring outlook from the National Retail Federation.

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Retail Pay Falls Far Short of Rent: Median Worker Earns Less Than Half of What's Needed - CRBC News