Home Wage Calculator You Can Help! Advocates What’s New The Bottom Line Contact Us UNIVERSAL LIVING WAGE FORMULA How it works based on existing Section 8 HUD guidelines. Calculate the Living Wage in Your Community The concept is simple. The concept is based on the premise that a person working 40 hours a week should be able to afford basic housing. We use two existing federal guidelines to determine what the Universal Living Wage should be. The First Guideline The first guideline is a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standard that is also used by banking institutions across America. This HUD standard dictates that no more than 30 percent of a person’s gross monthly income should be spent on housing. The Second Guideline The second guideline is also a HUD standard. HUD establishes the Fair Market Rents (FMRs) each year throughout the country for each municipality and all other areas. The fair market rent of varies from are to area, therefore, the Universal Living Wage varies in each area, in accordance with the FMRs. These two government guidelines let us to use existing government formulas to easily justify specific Universal Living Wage figures that are appropriate to each municipality and its outlying areas. The Second Guideline We have devised a national formula that is based on each local economy throughout the entire United States. The formula is designed in such a manner that whether you live in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc., if you are willing and able to work a 40-hour week, you should be able to afford an efficiency apartment on no more than 30 percent of your gross monthly income. Donate to the cause Give Today Donate to the cause Give Today Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2312 Austin, Texas 78768-2312 Home Contact Us Donate! Sign the Petition House the Homeless © 2021 Universal Living Wage – an initiative of House the Homeless, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization