Electrician · Boston, MA
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Boston for an electrician earning the median $38.42 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($2,518 ÷ $38.42). After federal taxes the same rent takes 80.5 h of take-home pay. MA state income tax isn't deducted, so real take-home is a bit higher-taxed.
Rent costs
65.5 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $38.42 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $6,659.
Rent costs
65.5 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 · $1,239 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
65.5 h
of work at $38.42/hr pays $2,518, one month of a one-bedroom in Boston. The strip is drawn to scale: $2,518 of a $6,659 gross month (38% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 46.5% of take-home
Hours of work
65.5
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Boston metro
04 · What's left is yours
Strained
What's left · yours
$2,903
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 46% 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 | 29.6 h | $1,167 | $39.42 | |
| 02 | Chicago | 36.2 h | $1,780 | $49.21 | |
| 03 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | 36.2 h | $1,427 | $39.37 | |
| 04 | Philadelphia | 43.4 h | $1,558 | $35.86 | |
| 05 | Houston | 44.3 h | $1,261 | $28.45 | |
| 06 | Seattle | 44.6 h | $2,180 | $48.93 | |
| 07 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 48.7 h | $1,705 | $35.00 | |
| 08 | Phoenix | 50.7 h | $1,493 | $29.43 | |
| 09 | San Francisco | 51.3 h | $2,290 | $44.63 | |
| 10 | Baltimore | 51.5 h | $1,625 | $31.54 | |
| 11 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 54.1 h | $1,536 | $28.37 | |
| 12 | Atlanta | 57.4 h | $1,619 | $28.20 | |
| 13 | Tampa | 59.7 h | $1,648 | $27.62 | |
| 14 | Denver | 60.3 h | $1,831 | $30.36 | |
| 15 | Washington, DC | 60.4 h | $2,204 | $36.50 | |
| 16 | San Diego | 63.8 h | $2,335 | $36.62 | |
| 17 | Boston | 65.5 h | $2,518 | $38.42 | |
| 18 | Los Angeles | 67.7 h | $2,402 | $35.49 | |
| 19 | New York | 71.8 h | $2,729 | $37.99 | |
| 20 | Miami | 75.2 h | $2,121 | $28.19 | |
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 | $6,659 | 173.3 | $79,910 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$729 | 19.0 | $8,750/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$509 | 13.3 | $6,113/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $5,421 | 141.1 | MA wage tax not deducted |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$2,518 | 65.5 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $2,903 | 75.6 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $38.42; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $2,518 one-bedroom, different electrician 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 17 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.