I'm making zero. I have been in IT, a developer (but out of date mostly VB and SQL), managed dev teams, managed IT departments. Unfortunately I have a record and it's hard to get someone to give me a second chance plus now I'm over 50 and too old/overqualified for the minimum wage jobs. Would love to hear your ideas.
In my state (Idaho) they can (and do) pay less than minimum wage if you are a tipped employee. [1]
"Most" who are in those positions tend to make at least minimum wage, if not more, but that is not a guarantee, and it is harder to claim tips as "stable income" when trying to get credit/housing.
Median wage/rent is hard to apply. Totally different results if you look at what the typical renter makes (at least in my area).
Minimum wage is one thing...but when it takes 3-4x minimum wage to stay at 0 every month things get difficult.
That's a good slight of hand you pulled there. Most of the demographics here won't have taken a path through college that equips them with the specific knowledge to catch it.
(I'm not gonna spoil it, I wanna see if anyone else can figure it out)
I'm not in NC, but Walmart starts associates at $14/hr and will (almost) hire anyone. A quick check shows they have tons of open positions throughout the state, full time with benefits.
Shit, people don't even make minimum wage in states with tipped minimum. Bartenders be getting less than that, and people aren't drinking like they use to.
I'm very interested in hearing the opportunity you can give someone who's willing to work for $14.50/hr though.