Elementary School Teacher · Baltimore, MD
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Baltimore for an elementary school teacher earning the median — an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($1,625 ÷ —). After federal taxes the same rent takes 54.0 h of take-home pay. MD state income tax isn't deducted, so real take-home is a bit higher-taxed.
Rent costs
— hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate — × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $6,367.
Rent costs
— 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 · $1,152 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
— h
of work at —/hr pays $1,625, one month of a one-bedroom in Baltimore. The strip is drawn to scale: $1,625 of a $6,367 gross month (26% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 31.2% of take-home
Hours of work
—
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Baltimore metro
04 · What's left is yours
Stretched
What's left · yours
$3,590
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 31% 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 | — h | $1,167 | — | |
| 02 | Riverside–San Bernardino | — h | $1,705 | — | |
| 03 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | — h | $1,427 | — | |
| 04 | Houston | — h | $1,261 | — | |
| 05 | Philadelphia | — h | $1,558 | — | |
| 06 | Atlanta | — h | $1,619 | — | |
| 07 | Baltimore | — h | $1,625 | — | |
| 08 | Seattle | — h | $2,180 | — | |
| 09 | Chicago | — h | $1,780 | — | |
| 10 | Dallas–Fort Worth | — h | $1,536 | — | |
| 11 | San Francisco | — h | $2,290 | — | |
| 12 | Denver | — h | $1,831 | — | |
| 13 | Los Angeles | — h | $2,402 | — | |
| 14 | Phoenix | — h | $1,493 | — | |
| 15 | San Diego | — h | $2,335 | — | |
| 16 | Boston | — h | $2,518 | — | |
| 17 | Tampa | — h | $1,648 | — | |
| 18 | Washington, DC | — h | $2,204 | — | |
| 19 | Orlando | — h | $1,726 | — | |
| 20 | New York | — h | $2,729 | — | |
| 21 | Miami | — h | $2,121 | — | |
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 | $6,367 | — | $76,400 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$665 | — | $7,978/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$487 | — | $5,845/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $5,215 | — | MD wage tax not deducted |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$1,625 | — | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $3,590 | — | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ —; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $1,625 one-bedroom, different elementary school teacher 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 7 of 21), 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.