Petition: Living Wage

The Coachella Valley, celebrated for its tourism and mesmerizing landscapes, hides a harsh reality.

Despite its economic prosperity, 56% of the region’s residents struggle to afford rent. More than half of residents spend over 30% of their earnings on rent, often at the expense of essentials like food and healthcare. As a consequence, many families, especially from marginalized communities, live on the edge, where a single unplanned expense can disrupt their basic living. The stark gap between the Valley’s average living cost and its minimum wage necessitates immediate action. To truly ensure every resident can thrive, we must prioritize raising the wage to reflect the real cost of living.

A family requires more than $45.90 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. But the Valley’s current minimum wage is a meager $15.50 per hour. At this wage, one would need to work an unrealistic 118 hours per week to merely get by. It’s alarming that 20% of our community lives below the poverty line, a figure that speaks volumes about the prevailing wage disparity.

Sign the petition to tell the selected local officials that you support a living wage in the Coachella Valley.