Police Officer · Houston, TX
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Houston for a police officer earning the median $35.85 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($1,261 ÷ $35.85). After federal taxes the same rent takes 42.8 h of take-home pay.
Rent costs
35.2 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $35.85 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $6,214.
Rent costs
35.2 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 · $1,107 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
35.2 h
of work at $35.85/hr pays $1,261, one month of a one-bedroom in Houston. The strip is drawn to scale: $1,261 of a $6,214 gross month (20% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 24.7% of take-home
Hours of work
35.2
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Houston metro
04 · What's left is yours
Comfortable
What's left · yours
$3,846
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 25% 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 | 30.5 h | $1,427 | $46.73 | |
| 02 | Detroit | 30.9 h | $1,167 | $37.72 | |
| 03 | Chicago | 34.3 h | $1,780 | $51.83 | |
| 04 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 34.4 h | $1,536 | $44.67 | |
| 05 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 34.8 h | $1,705 | $48.98 | |
| 06 | Houston | 35.2 h | $1,261 | $35.85 | |
| 07 | San Francisco | 36.1 h | $2,290 | $63.46 | |
| 08 | Philadelphia | 36.2 h | $1,558 | $43.07 | |
| 09 | Phoenix | 36.5 h | $1,493 | $40.89 | |
| 10 | Denver | 37.4 h | $1,831 | $49.02 | |
| 11 | Seattle | 39.4 h | $2,180 | $55.35 | |
| 12 | Los Angeles | 41.0 h | $2,402 | $58.64 | |
| 13 | San Diego | 44.0 h | $2,335 | $53.08 | |
| 14 | Baltimore | 44.2 h | $1,625 | $36.80 | |
| 15 | Tampa | 45.3 h | $1,648 | $36.40 | |
| 16 | New York | 53.8 h | $2,729 | $50.74 | |
| 17 | Washington, DC | 54.6 h | $2,204 | $40.39 | |
| 18 | Miami | 55.3 h | $2,121 | $38.38 | |
| 19 | Atlanta | 55.3 h | $1,619 | $29.29 | |
| 20 | Boston | 67.0 h | $2,518 | $37.59 | |
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 | $6,214 | 173.3 | $74,570 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$631 | 17.6 | $7,575/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$475 | 13.3 | $5,705/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $5,107 | 142.5 | TX has no wage tax |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$1,261 | 35.2 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $3,846 | 107.3 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $35.85; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $1,261 one-bedroom, different police officer 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.