Medical Assistant · Houston, TX
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Houston for a medical assistant earning the median $20.25 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($1,261 ÷ $20.25). After federal taxes the same rent takes 72.8 h of take-home pay.
Rent costs
62.3 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $20.25 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $3,509.
Rent costs
62.3 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 levied in this state.
Taxes · $508 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
62.3 h
of work at $20.25/hr pays $1,261, one month of a one-bedroom in Houston. The strip is drawn to scale: $1,261 of a $3,509 gross month (36% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 42.0% of take-home
Hours of work
62.3
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Houston metro
04 · What's left is yours
Strained
What's left · yours
$1,740
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 42% 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 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | 56.4 h | $1,427 | $25.28 | |
| 02 | Detroit | 61.6 h | $1,167 | $18.95 | |
| 03 | Houston | 62.3 h | $1,261 | $20.25 | |
| 04 | Phoenix | 66.3 h | $1,493 | $22.51 | |
| 05 | Philadelphia | 70.6 h | $1,558 | $22.06 | |
| 06 | Baltimore | 72.2 h | $1,625 | $22.50 | |
| 07 | Atlanta | 73.1 h | $1,619 | $22.15 | |
| 08 | Seattle | 73.7 h | $2,180 | $29.57 | |
| 09 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 74.1 h | $1,536 | $20.72 | |
| 10 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 75.9 h | $1,705 | $22.45 | |
| 11 | Denver | 76.6 h | $1,831 | $23.90 | |
| 12 | Tampa | 77.0 h | $1,648 | $21.39 | |
| 13 | Chicago | 78.3 h | $1,780 | $22.73 | |
| 14 | San Francisco | 79.7 h | $2,290 | $28.75 | |
| 15 | Miami | 98.2 h | $2,121 | $21.60 | |
| 16 | San Diego | 98.3 h | $2,335 | $23.76 | |
| 17 | Washington, DC | 98.3 h | $2,204 | $22.42 | |
| 18 | Boston | 103.2 h | $2,518 | $24.39 | |
| 19 | Los Angeles | 104.6 h | $2,402 | $22.96 | |
| 20 | New York | 117.3 h | $2,729 | $23.26 | |
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 | $3,509 | 173.3 | $42,110 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$239 | 11.8 | $2,873/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$268 | 13.3 | $3,221/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $3,001 | 148.2 | TX has no wage tax |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$1,261 | 62.3 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $1,740 | 85.9 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $20.25; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $1,261 one-bedroom, different medical assistant 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 3 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.