Software Developer · Boston, MA
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Boston for a software developer earning the median $79.85 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($2,518 ÷ $79.85). After federal taxes the same rent takes 42.0 h of take-home pay. MA state income tax isn't deducted, so real take-home is a bit higher-taxed.
Rent costs
31.5 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $79.85 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $13,841.
Rent costs
31.5 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 · $3,442 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
31.5 h
of work at $79.85/hr pays $2,518, one month of a one-bedroom in Boston. The strip is drawn to scale: $2,518 of a $13,841 gross month (18% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 24.2% of take-home
Hours of work
31.5
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Boston metro
04 · What's left is yours
Comfortable
What's left · yours
$7,881
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 24% 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 | 18.6 h | $1,167 | $62.87 | |
| 02 | Houston | 20.3 h | $1,261 | $62.23 | |
| 03 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | 22.7 h | $1,427 | $62.94 | |
| 04 | Phoenix | 23.6 h | $1,493 | $63.34 | |
| 05 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 24.0 h | $1,536 | $64.08 | |
| 06 | Baltimore | 24.3 h | $1,625 | $66.78 | |
| 07 | Philadelphia | 24.4 h | $1,558 | $63.96 | |
| 08 | Atlanta | 25.3 h | $1,619 | $63.92 | |
| 09 | San Francisco | 25.5 h | $2,290 | $89.73 | |
| 10 | Tampa | 26.3 h | $1,648 | $62.71 | |
| 11 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 26.6 h | $1,705 | $64.07 | |
| 12 | Seattle | 27.1 h | $2,180 | $80.42 | |
| 13 | Chicago | 27.6 h | $1,780 | $64.60 | |
| 14 | Denver | 27.7 h | $1,831 | $66.16 | |
| 15 | Orlando | 27.7 h | $1,726 | $62.32 | |
| 16 | Washington, DC | 29.6 h | $2,204 | $74.49 | |
| 17 | San Diego | 29.7 h | $2,335 | $78.49 | |
| 18 | Los Angeles | 31.0 h | $2,402 | $77.37 | |
| 19 | Boston | 31.5 h | $2,518 | $79.85 | |
| 20 | Miami | 33.3 h | $2,121 | $63.77 | |
| 21 | New York | 34.0 h | $2,729 | $80.21 | |
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 | $13,841 | 173.3 | $166,090 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$2,383 | 29.8 | $28,596/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$1,059 | 13.3 | $12,706/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $10,399 | 130.2 | MA wage tax not deducted |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$2,518 | 31.5 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $7,881 | 98.7 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $79.85; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $2,518 one-bedroom, different software developer 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 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.