Accountant or Auditor · Chicago, IL
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Chicago for an accountant or auditor earning the median $39.60 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($1,780 ÷ $39.60). After federal taxes the same rent takes 55.5 h of take-home pay. IL state income tax isn't deducted, so real take-home is a bit higher-taxed.
Rent costs
44.9 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $39.60 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $6,863.
Rent costs
44.9 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
02 · Taxes peel off
2026 single filer, standard deduction. State income tax is not deducted here.
Taxes · $1,299 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
44.9 h
of work at $39.60/hr pays $1,780, one month of a one-bedroom in Chicago. The strip is drawn to scale: $1,780 of a $6,863 gross month (26% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 32.0% of take-home
Hours of work
44.9
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Chicago metro
04 · What's left is yours
Stretched
What's left · yours
$3,784
05 · Floor plan
Rent hatches rooms in ledger red, to scale against take-home. Toggle a 2-bedroom — both figures are precomputed HUD FMRs.
Hatched share is 32% of take-home (1BR).
06 · Street grid
Hours of work to cover a one-bedroom's rent, all metros, fewest hours first.
Comfortable (rent ≤ 30% of take-home)Stretched (30–40%)Strained (> 40%)
Sorted by hours of work (1-bedroom HUD FMR ÷ median hourly wage), fewest first. Rank on the page still uses rent share of take-home.
| # | Metro | Hours | Rent | Wage / hr | 0 – 52 h (HUD 30% of gross) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Detroit | 30.1 h | $1,167 | $38.78 | |
| 02 | Houston | 30.8 h | $1,261 | $40.91 | |
| 03 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | 34.3 h | $1,427 | $41.59 | |
| 04 | Philadelphia | 37.7 h | $1,558 | $41.34 | |
| 05 | Denver | 38.1 h | $1,831 | $48.09 | |
| 06 | Phoenix | 38.4 h | $1,493 | $38.86 | |
| 07 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 38.7 h | $1,536 | $39.72 | |
| 08 | Atlanta | 39.2 h | $1,619 | $41.26 | |
| 09 | Baltimore | 39.7 h | $1,625 | $40.94 | |
| 10 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 42.3 h | $1,705 | $40.34 | |
| 11 | San Francisco | 43.0 h | $2,290 | $53.24 | |
| 12 | Tampa | 43.4 h | $1,648 | $37.98 | |
| 13 | Washington, DC | 44.9 h | $2,204 | $49.11 | |
| 14 | Chicago | 44.9 h | $1,780 | $39.60 | |
| 15 | Seattle | 45.6 h | $2,180 | $47.78 | |
| 16 | San Diego | 50.4 h | $2,335 | $46.32 | |
| 17 | Boston | 52.3 h | $2,518 | $48.15 | |
| 18 | Los Angeles | 53.0 h | $2,402 | $45.36 | |
| 19 | New York | 53.7 h | $2,729 | $50.80 | |
| 20 | Miami | 54.5 h | $2,121 | $38.91 | |
One month at the median wage, line by line, in dollars and in hours of work.
| Line | Per month | Hours of work | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,863 | 173.3 | $82,360 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$774 | 19.5 | $9,289/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$525 | 13.3 | $6,301/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $5,564 | 140.5 | IL wage tax not deducted |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$1,780 | 44.9 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $3,784 | 95.6 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $39.60; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $1,780 one-bedroom, different accountant or auditor paychecks.
Bar scale includes the HUD 30%-of-gross line at 52.0 h (52 h rounded). Same 1-bedroom, different paychecks (BLS wage percentiles ÷ 2,080 hrs).
This ranking uses rent share of take-home (rank 13 of 20), not hours.
oesm25ma.zip, retrieved 2026-10-06.FY27_FMRs.xlsx, retrieved 2026-10-05.Take-home = annual wage − 2026 federal income tax (single filer, standard deduction) − Social Security and Medicare. State and local income taxes are not deducted. Wages are May 2025 estimates; rents are HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026). Full details on the methodology page. Page data last rebuilt 2026-10-06.