(NewsNation) -- Americans are gearing up for a massive holiday shopping season, but behind the scenes, many retail workers are struggling to afford even a standard apartment.
The typical retail worker earns $34,436 per year -- less than half of the roughly $71,000 needed to rent a typical unit, according to a new Redfin analysis.
That means a retail worker would have to put in 83 hours a week to cover today's $1,779 rent and keep housing costs under the 30% affordability threshold.
"Since most retail workers don't earn enough to afford the typical apartment, many are opting to share rent with a family member or friend, move far away from their job, or live in a very small space," Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said in the report.
In high-cost areas like New York City and California, the gap between retail wages and rent prices is even wider.
Retail workers in New York City fall nearly $96,000 short of the income needed to afford the typical apartment -- a 71% shortfall and the largest among the 50 metros Redfin analyzed.
In Boston, renters need to make nearly $115,000 a year to afford the typical apartment, more than $76,000 above retail workers' annual wages in the area.
San Jose, Miami and San Diego also had some of the largest gaps between retail wages and rents.
By contrast, Cleveland, St. Louis and San Antonio had the smallest shortfalls. But none of the 50 metros Redfin analyzed were affordable for retail workers under the 30% rent-to-income standard.
Even high-earning retail workers, those in the top 25% of wages, still earn 44% less than they would need for the typical apartment.
Redfin's findings underscore the financial strain many retail workers are facing, and a weaker holiday hiring season has only deepened concerns.
Retailers are expected to hire between 265,000 and 365,000 seasonal workers this year, possibly the lowest level in over 15 years, according to the National Retail Federation. The downtick is a reflection of growing online sales, a softening economy and a slower labor market.
Still, the NRF sees holiday sales exceeding $1 trillion for the first time.
While rents are still out of reach for many, affordability has modestly improved recently. Retail worker wages have been growing at a pace of around 3% year over year, and rents have been growing at a rate closer to 2%, Redfin said.
Today's 52% gap between retail wages and rent is slightly better than the 57% shortfall in October 2022.
Redfin said rent growth has slowed due to an apartment construction boom during the pandemic, which gave landlords less leeway to raise rents.