Retail Salesperson · Boston, MA
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Boston for a retail salesperson earning the median $17.72 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($2,518 ÷ $17.72). After federal taxes the same rent takes 164.8 h of take-home pay. MA state income tax isn't deducted, so real take-home is a bit higher-taxed.
Rent costs
142.1 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $17.72 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $3,071.
Rent costs
142.1 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 · $422 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
142.1 h
of work at $17.72/hr pays $2,518, one month of a one-bedroom in Boston. The strip is drawn to scale: $2,518 of a $3,071 gross month (82% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 95.0% of take-home
Hours of work
142.1
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Boston metro
04 · What's left is yours
Strained
What's left · yours
$131
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 95% 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 | 69.1 h | $1,167 | $16.89 | |
| 02 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | 80.9 h | $1,427 | $17.63 | |
| 03 | Houston | 83.7 h | $1,261 | $15.07 | |
| 04 | Phoenix | 86.4 h | $1,493 | $17.29 | |
| 05 | Philadelphia | 93.1 h | $1,558 | $16.74 | |
| 06 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 95.6 h | $1,536 | $16.06 | |
| 07 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 96.5 h | $1,705 | $17.66 | |
| 08 | Baltimore | 97.1 h | $1,625 | $16.73 | |
| 09 | Denver | 99.0 h | $1,831 | $18.50 | |
| 10 | Tampa | 101.4 h | $1,648 | $16.25 | |
| 11 | Atlanta | 102.5 h | $1,619 | $15.79 | |
| 12 | Chicago | 103.4 h | $1,780 | $17.22 | |
| 13 | Seattle | 107.8 h | $2,180 | $20.23 | |
| 14 | San Francisco | 108.6 h | $2,290 | $21.08 | |
| 15 | Washington, DC | 125.2 h | $2,204 | $17.60 | |
| 16 | San Diego | 128.4 h | $2,335 | $18.18 | |
| 17 | Miami | 128.5 h | $2,121 | $16.50 | |
| 18 | Los Angeles | 132.5 h | $2,402 | $18.13 | |
| 19 | Boston | 142.1 h | $2,518 | $17.72 | |
| 20 | New York | 148.3 h | $2,729 | $18.40 | |
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 | $3,071 | 173.3 | $36,850 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$187 | 10.5 | $2,242/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$235 | 13.3 | $2,819/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $2,649 | 149.5 | MA wage tax not deducted |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$2,518 | 142.1 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $131 | 7.4 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $17.72; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $2,518 one-bedroom, different retail salesperson 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 19 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.