Comment by vorpalhex

Aside from less than a quarter point (0.24) from Covid, wages have in fact risen with inflation and that small difference is also likely to disppear soon.

https://usafacts.org/answers/are-wages-keeping-up-with-infla...

It is in fact rents, especially with mandatory add-ons. The actual cost of renting a place is a lot more than the direct rent payment.