Saint Paul Policy Committee Meeting on Affordability - October 14, 2026

The Saint Paul City Council's Policy Committee met on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 1:00 PM in Council Chambers at Saint Paul City Hall for an informational briefing on SR 26-219, 'Overview on Affordability in St. Paul.' Six members were present and one was excused. Invited speakers from North Star Policy Action, the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, and Child Care for All presented data and personal testimony on wages, housing costs, and child care costs. The committee received and filed the item without taking a formal vote.

Presentations and Discussion

Wages and Cost of Living - Aaron Rosenthal, North Star Policy Action

• Rosenthal described affordability as a race between prices and wages, reporting that inflation peaked around 8% in 2022 and that the Consumer Price Index rose again to 3.6% in September 2026.
• He said the basic cost of living in Ramsey County for a 'typical family' defined as one full-time worker, one part-time worker, and one child is just over $80,000, making Ramsey County the seventh most expensive county in Minnesota.
• He cited fuel prices up about 57% since the start of the Iran War; a Minnesota family of four with two drivers has spent about $1,000 more year to date, projected to reach almost $1,800 more by the end of 2026.
• Health insurance premiums were up 75% over 12 years and deductibles up 84%. He said 116,000 Minnesotans lost health insurance in 2025, another 140,000 to 180,000 are projected to lose coverage by 2034 because of Medicaid cuts, and hospitals could face $1 billion in uncompensated care.
• He said tariffs cost the average Minnesota family about $1,300 in 2025 and are expected to worsen in 2026 with new tariffs on Canada.
• On the job market, he said Minnesota added about 4,000 jobs in 2025, the lowest non-pandemic year since the Great Recession. Unemployment crossed the national rate for the first time since 2007, with black Minnesotans' unemployment rising from 4.8% to 7.6%. The labor force participation rate saw its largest six-month drop since at least 2000 from January to July 2026.
• Median inflation-adjusted wages rose about 50 cents from 2024 to 2025, then fell during the first seven months of 2026, leaving essentially no median wage growth from early 2024 to mid-2026. Wages for the 90th percentile rose 4% over that period, widening inequality after roughly a decade of narrowing.
• Since 1979, Minnesota worker productivity rose 86% while pay rose 36%. The statewide CEO-to-worker pay ratio rose to about 325 in 2025, and was between roughly 550 and 800 at selected companies such as Target, UnitedHealth, and Best Buy. The labor share of business income fell to an all-time low of 53%, down from 62-63% in 2000.
• Union coverage in Minnesota rose to 15.8% in 2025 from 14.7%, and union members' wages rose while non-union wages fell.
• Rosenthal said Ramsey County's affordability gap currently leaves a median working family about $5,500 short of basic costs; it is the third largest gap among Minnesota counties, behind Winona and Rice. With two full-time minimum-wage workers and one child, the shortfall is about $25,000; with two children, it exceeds $50,000.
• Rosenthal argued that government can address wages more effectively than prices. He expressed support for boosting worker power, unions, sectoral bargaining, protecting immigrant workers, and raising St. Paul's minimum wage. He cited California's $20 fast-food minimum wage as producing a 12% wage increase with only a 2% price increase, and said raising the minimum wage does not reduce employment or meaningfully raise prices.

Housing Affordability - Juan Luis River Reyes, Alliance for Metropolitan Stability

• River Reyes, a St. Paul native and housing coalition organizer, presented Housing Link data showing median rents in St. Paul of $1,247 overall, $1,095 for one-bedroom units, $1,382 for two-bedrooms, and $1,918 for three-bedrooms.
• He said 23% of St. Paul homeowners and 49% of renter households are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of income on housing.
• Using assumptions of 40 hours per week and 52 weeks per year, he said a renter would need about $14,924 per year just to pay the median rent and would need to earn about $23.98 per hour to avoid cost burden at the 30% threshold; at a 33% threshold, the figure would be about $21.58 per hour. He clarified these figures are gross income and exclude utilities and renters insurance.
• He said units described as affordable at 50% Area Median Income would require rent of about $1,233 per month, or an annual income of $49,320 and an hourly wage of $23.74; at 60% AMI, the rent would be about $1,479 per month, requiring $59,160 per year, or $28.44 per hour.
• River Reyes argued that the current St. Paul minimum wage leaves tenants cost burdened and that the definition of affordable housing must go further. He noted that 33% of St. Paul households earn $50,000 or less, so a large share of residents cannot afford the median rent.

Child Care Affordability - Maria, Albert Everline, and Martha Iguetta, Child Care for All

• Maria, director of Rainbow Child Development Center, said 90% of brain development occurs before age five and 80% before age three, and that high-quality birth-to-five programs can deliver a 13% annual return on investment compared with 7-10% for preschool programs for three- and four-year-olds.
• The speakers said the average cost of a child care center is $23,452 per year, compared with University of Minnesota tuition of $19,312. The federal affordability standard of 7% of income would require a one-child St. Paul family to earn $335,000 per year; Albert Everline said his family earns $120,000.
• Albert's family's care costs rose from about $550 to $778 every two weeks. He described his son's teachers quitting abruptly in 2025 because of low wages and lack of immigration protections, which disrupted his son's trust and led to about five months of difficulty.
• Martha Iguetta, a District 1 resident and early intervention teacher speaking personally, said early childhood educators are disproportionately women of color, earn $18-20 per hour in St. Paul, often lack benefits, and up to 90% report one or more adverse childhood experiences compared with about 55% of Minnesota residents.
• The speakers said seven long-standing child care centers closed in St. Paul last year, that Minnesota lost $2.1 billion in economic activity last year because of the infant and toddler child care crisis, and that 6,700 children are enrolled in 87 licensed facilities, supporting an estimated 676 center jobs alone.
• The group called child care a systemic problem requiring massive public investment, increased minimum wage, revenue from large businesses, and a universal child care system. They asked the Council to testify at the state capitol and to support policies that raise teacher wages without raising family costs, with particular attention to educators of color and immigrants.

Council Discussion

• Councilmember Jost asked whether the one-full-time/one-part-time/one-child family assumption is representative and noted the affordability gap would likely be larger for families with more children; Rosenthal agreed children raise the basic cost of living substantially.
• Councilmember Johnson, speaking as a new mom, said her family pays $500 per week for child care, which can be double a mortgage, and argued that rent control alone does not address the core costs of housing, child care, and evictions.
• Councilmember Kim said women and women of color are particularly affected by child care costs and workforce participation. She announced that her office will hold stakeholder engagement sessions on affordability, modeled on the Citizen's League process but without a paid consultant, similar to the tree ordinance process, and invited interested groups to contact her office.
• Chair Noecker thanked the speakers, said she was eager to explore redistributing wealth from higher earners, and expressed continued commitment to working with child care advocates on state and local solutions.

Key Outcomes

• The committee received and filed SR 26-219, 'Overview on Affordability in St. Paul.'
• No formal vote was taken.
• Councilmember Kim stated next steps for additional community engagement sessions on affordability and minimum wage, with no date specified.