Annual income for two full-time minimum-wage workers and income needed for a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in metropolitan areas, New England states, 2026

Two workers earning minimum wage will not be able to afford a standard two-bedroom apartment in the biggest metro areas in any New England state in 2026. In Vermont, the difference between their income and rent in 2026 will be more than $25,000 annually, or $6 more income hourly per earner. That’s both because the Vermont minimum wage has fallen behind the other states (except New Hampshire, where the wage is tied to the federal minimum wage) and because rents have risen. In the last five years the median rent has increased by 35 percent, more than $300 per month. More than 40 percent of units cost over $1,500 per month in 2024, compared with 15 percent in 2019.