What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour

It Takes 74 Minutes of Minimum-Wage Work to Buy a Sara Lee Apple Pie

By Billy Domineau

5,859 hours

for a 20% down payment on a median-priced U.S. home

($42,480, National Association of Realtors)

1,654 hours

for a 2015 Nissan Versa, the least expensive new car available in the U.S.

($11,990, Nissan USA)

149 hours

for one year of service with an iPhone 6 Plus (64 GB), plus 55 hours for the phone itself

($1080, $400, Verizon Wireless)

124 hours

for dinner for 2 at Masa, New York’s most expensive restaurant (not incl. drinks, tax, or gratuity)

($900, Masa)

112 minutes

for an adult ticket at a national movie theater chain

($13.50, AMC)

93 days

for a 5-day, 4-night all-inclusive trip to Disney World for a family of four*

(approx. $5,400, Disney Parks)

74 minutes

for a Sara Lee Frozen Apple Pie

($9.95, Groceries Express)

46 hours

for a monthly Stafford loan payment

(assumes $31,000 borrowed, undergrad maximum)

22 weeks

to cover the maximum yearly out-of-pocket expenses for a basic-coverage health care plan through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges*

($6,350, healthcare.gov)

16.5 minutes

for a 5 Hour Energy shot

($2, Billy’s corner bodega)

8.3 hours

for a pair of designer kids’ sneakers, bought on sale

($60, Foot Locker, Nike)

4.8 years

for one year of tuition, room, and board at a top-tier private university*

($72,577, NYU)

2.5 days

for five days of daycare expenses*

($148, Pew Charitable Trust)

1.01 hours

for a McDonald’s Big Mac Value meal

($7.29, McDonalds)

0.00452 seconds

for the Koch Brothers to make $7.25. In 2013, their combined total net worth increased at an equivalent rate of $5,769,230.77 an hour

(Bo Rader/Wichita Eagle/Getty Images; Mark Lennihan/AP)

(Forbes)

*days, weeks, years are based on 8-hour work days

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