Well that and the fact that low skill wages are climbing rapidly, meaning even lower tier apartments can now risk pushing rents higher (so if you're renting a m

Well that and the fact that low skill wages are climbing rapidly, meaning even lower tier apartments can now risk pushing rents higher (so if you're renting a mid tier apartment, you're seeing the rents climb up under you, pushing upwards on your rent). I live in a nowhere city in the US where most things are below the national median on cost. Wages have historically been forever depressed here. The minimum wage here is now de facto $13-$15 (far higher than the actual state minimum wage), because you can earn that at entry level retail store jobs, with zero prior experience and they usually don't even require a high school diploma. Those stores still can't find workers to fill the jobs at those rates. So what will it take to fill those jobs? Probably $18-$20 / hr (to scan bar codes at a touch screen POS with zero labor skill). Welcome to bizarro Switzerland or Scandinavia. One consequence of this, will be far higher rents.