The Tompkins County Workers Center is continuing its fight to make the minimum wage in the county equal to its living wage. In upstate New York, minimum wages increased from $9.60 to $13.20 between 2016 and 2021. However, the living wage for a single person living in Tompkins County is currently estimated at $16.61 an hour — and the living wage for a family with children is much higher.
A living wage calculation is made by Alternatives Federal Credit Union every two years based on cost of living data such as prices for rent, food, transportation, communication, recreation and savings. According to data from the workers center, “For full-time employees between 2015 and 2022, AFCU’s headline figure rose from $13.77 to $16.61” However, they say that it’s lower for workers whose employers provide health insurance.
According to ACFU’s latest calculation that was updated to account for inflation, a living wage of $16.61 per hour would total $2,878 per month and $34,538 per year. However, these figures are the result of cost of living data that says the average cost of rent in Tompkins County is $1,127 per month — while Zillow estimated the average rent for a studio apartment in Ithaca to be $1,900 as of October 18.
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