Registered Nurse · Los Angeles, CA
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Los Angeles for a registered nurse earning the median $65.18 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($2,402 ÷ $65.18). After federal taxes the same rent takes 48.1 h of take-home pay. CA state income tax isn't deducted, so real take-home is a bit higher-taxed.
Rent costs
36.9 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $65.18 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $11,297.
Rent costs
36.9 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 · $2,637 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
36.9 h
of work at $65.18/hr pays $2,402, one month of a one-bedroom in Los Angeles. The strip is drawn to scale: $2,402 of a $11,297 gross month (21% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 27.7% of take-home
Hours of work
36.9
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Los Angeles metro
04 · What's left is yours
Comfortable
What's left · yours
$6,258
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 28% 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 | 25.0 h | $1,167 | $46.77 | |
| 02 | San Francisco | 25.5 h | $2,290 | $89.71 | |
| 03 | Houston | 26.3 h | $1,261 | $48.00 | |
| 04 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 26.5 h | $1,705 | $64.40 | |
| 05 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | 28.8 h | $1,427 | $49.54 | |
| 06 | Phoenix | 30.8 h | $1,493 | $48.48 | |
| 07 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 31.5 h | $1,536 | $48.76 | |
| 08 | Philadelphia | 32.0 h | $1,558 | $48.64 | |
| 09 | Atlanta | 33.5 h | $1,619 | $48.31 | |
| 10 | Baltimore | 34.0 h | $1,625 | $47.86 | |
| 11 | San Diego | 34.8 h | $2,335 | $67.08 | |
| 12 | Seattle | 35.4 h | $2,180 | $61.66 | |
| 13 | Chicago | 36.8 h | $1,780 | $48.31 | |
| 14 | Los Angeles | 36.9 h | $2,402 | $65.18 | |
| 15 | Denver | 37.7 h | $1,831 | $48.62 | |
| 16 | Tampa | 40.1 h | $1,648 | $41.09 | |
| 17 | Orlando | 43.0 h | $1,726 | $40.17 | |
| 18 | Washington, DC | 44.6 h | $2,204 | $49.38 | |
| 19 | New York | 47.4 h | $2,729 | $57.56 | |
| 20 | Miami | 48.3 h | $2,121 | $43.93 | |
| 21 | Boston | 49.3 h | $2,518 | $51.05 | |
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 | $11,297 | 173.3 | $135,560 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$1,772 | 27.2 | $21,268/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$864 | 13.3 | $10,370/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $8,660 | 132.9 | CA wage tax not deducted |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$2,402 | 36.9 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $6,258 | 96.0 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $65.18; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $2,402 one-bedroom, different registered nurse 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 15 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.