Because nothing says “mid-century escapism vs late-capitalism grind” quite like realizing you need 3,000 hours of minimum-wage work just to sit on the beach and drink margaritas all day I have chartered what it really costs to “waste away in Margaritaville.”

I did this by pricing out a 3-month stay in Key West, the year Jimmy Buffett wrote the song (1976), versus today (2025) but I wanted to do it in terms of minimum-wage hours worked not just dollars.

Costs:

Rent (3 months in a modest 1-bedroom)

Food (cheap eats)

Booze (7 drinks per day — 3 margaritas at bars, 4 at home)

Tattoo (one small “shop-minimum” piece)

Then I converted everything into hours at the federal minimum wage ($2.30 in 1976 vs $7.25 in 2025).

Category 1976 $ 1976 hrs @ $2.30/hr 2025 $ 2025 hrs @ $7.25/hr
Rent (3 months) $550 239 hrs $11,958 1,649 hrs
Food (91 days) $1,197 520 hrs $7,826 1,080 hrs
Bar drinks (3/night) $419 182 hrs $2,727 376 hrs
Home drinks (4/night) $291 127 hrs $933 129 hrs
Tattoo (1 small) $25 11 hrs $125 17 hrs
Total $2,482 1,079 hrs $23,569 3,251 hrs

TL;DR

In 1976 it would take around ~1,079 hours hours of working full time on minimum wage and saving every time of it to spend a "Season" in Margaritaville. That's 27 weeks of full-time work.

In 2025 it would take around ~3,251 hours hours of working full time on minimum wage and saving every time of it to spend a "Season" in Margaritaville. That's 81 weeks of full-time work.

That’s over 3× more labor today to fund the same easy-drifting, salt-rimmed lifestyle. Turns out it’s a lot harder now to find your lost shaker of salt in 2025 than it was in 1976.

How I Figured It Out

Rent (2025): Key West 1-bedroom avg ≈ $3,986/mo → $11,958 for 3 mo (https://www.apartments.com/key-west-fl/average-rent/

Rent (1976): Interpolated from FL Census gross rent ($112 in 1970 → $255 in 1980) ≈ $183/mo × 3 = $550.

Food (2025): GSA Key West M&IE $86/day → $7,826 https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates
Food (1976): Scaled by BLS CPI “Food Away From Home” index (1976 58.169 → 2025 380.452) → $86 / 6.54 ≈ $13.15/day → $1,197.

Bar drinks (2025): Amigos Tortilla Bar margarita $9.99 → 3 × 91 = $2,727.
Bar drinks (1976): CPI Alcohol Away From Home (1977→2025 ≈ 6.5×) → $9.99 / 6.5 ≈ $1.54 per drink → $419 for the season.

Home drinks (2025): Homemade margarita ≈ $2.56 each → $933.
Home drinks (1976): CPI Alcohol at Home (1977→2025 ≈ 3.2×) → $0.80 each → $291.

Tattoo (2025): Local shop minimums $100–$150 → $125 average.
Tattoo (1976): Typical small tattoo price $20–$40 → $25 average.

Minimum wages: 1976 =$2.30 /hr (DOL history); 2025 =$7.25 /hr (federal); also checked FL $14/hr (separate calc ≈ 1,684 hrs).

Posted by jrralls

17 comments

  1. SOURCE: Rent (2025): Key West 1-bedroom avg ≈ $3,986/mo → $11,958 for 3 mo ([https://www.apartments.com/key-west-fl/average-rent/](https://www.apartments.com/key-west-fl/average-rent/)

    Rent (1976): Interpolated from FL Census gross rent ($112 in 1970 → $255 in 1980) ≈ $183/mo × 3 = $550.

    Food (2025): GSA Key West M&IE $86/day → $7,826 [https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates](https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates)
    Food (1976): Scaled by BLS CPI “Food Away From Home” index (1976 58.169 → 2025 380.452) → $86 / 6.54 ≈ $13.15/day → $1,197.

    Bar drinks (2025): Amigos Tortilla Bar margarita $9.99 → 3 × 91 = $2,727.
    Bar drinks (1976): CPI Alcohol Away From Home (1977→2025 ≈ 6.5×) → $9.99 / 6.5 ≈ $1.54 per drink → $419 for the season.

    Home drinks (2025): Homemade margarita ≈ $2.56 each → $933.
    Home drinks (1976): CPI Alcohol at Home (1977→2025 ≈ 3.2×) → $0.80 each → $291.

    Tattoo (2025): Local shop minimums $100–$150 → $125 average.
    Tattoo (1976): Typical small tattoo price $20–$40 → $25 average.

    Minimum wages: 1976 =$2.30 /hr (DOL history); 2025 =$7.25 /hr (federal);

    TOOL: ChatGPT Pro

  3. I love this. Many income-based statistics would be better understood be folks at all income levels if it were boiled down to time because we are all aware of how finite it is.

  4. Interesting? Sure. Easy to read? I’ve seen worse. Beautiful? Absolutely not.

  5. Florida’s minimum wage is $14.00/hour. $7.25 is just federal.

  6. This is the worst set of statistical comparisons I’ve ever seen, jesus christ.

  7. And how many people make minimum wage in 1976 and today?

  8. You forgot the price of 1 flip flop and 1 emergency room visit related to a heel injury!

  9. “you need 3,000 hours of minimum-wage work just to sit on the beach and drink margaritas all day”

    In what world of misplaced expectations is this a viable goal for a minimum wage job?

  10. Lol, as though he would be renting a 1-br alone. Young drifters typically sleep on each other’s couches, split rent 10 ways, or camp on the beach.

    Heck, many campsites even have power to plug in your blender.

  11. I like this, but think the presumptions are incorrect: Jimmy Buffet isn’t dining out—he’s on his front porch eating sponge cake. Possibly that he’s made, but definitely not ordered from a restaurant. Same with the shrimp he’s got boiling. It’s being made at his house.

    Bar drinks? Nah. He’s got booze in the blender. His own booze and his own blender. I mean, why would he be looking for his own shaker of salt when a restaurant would undoubtedly have their own.

    Finally, I don’t think he paid for that tattoo. He was presumably drunk enough to not remember anything, and most artists won’t tattoo someone that intoxicated. My bet is that Jimmy was just out on the town and met up with some people, one of whom had a tattoo machine. He’d remember spending money on that thing. Or at least notice the cash gone.

  12. The logical next step is a root cause analysis of the tremendous loss of margarita buying power since 1976. Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame.

  13. Next figure the cost of a burger + cheese in paradise. 

  14. People earning federal minimum wage must be nearly non existent. Median entry level retail wages in 2024 were $16.00/hr. likely a better comparison. Closer to 1500 hours in 2025 then. Sill 33% more, but not as biased as your chart makes things out to be.

  15. Minimum wage is a pointless number. Unless you have already proven that you are irresponsible and unable to do the basics necessary to hold a job, you should be earning above minimum wage. House cleaners and nannys earn $20+/hour.

  16. In 2024, just one in one thousand workers earned the national minimum wage. It’s useless to consider.

  17. if i don’t know what the hell is going on it’s probably because i’m too young to understand right?

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