Truck Driver · Chicago, IL
cover a month's rent on a one-bedroom in Chicago for a truck driver earning the median $29.95 an hour.
Hours of work = monthly rent ÷ BLS median hourly wage ($1,780 ÷ $29.95). After federal taxes the same rent takes 70.9 h of take-home pay. IL state income tax isn't deducted, so real take-home is a bit higher-taxed.
Rent costs
59.4 hours
of work to cover one month
Wages May 2025 estimates · Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026)
01 · Paycheck prints
Rate $29.95 × 173.3 hours (2,080 ÷ 12) prints gross pay of $5,192.
Rent costs
59.4 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 · $839 · peeled
03 · Rent tears away
59.4 h
of work at $29.95/hr pays $1,780, one month of a one-bedroom in Chicago. The strip is drawn to scale: $1,780 of a $5,192 gross month (34% of stub).
Background tint · rent burden 40.9% of take-home
Hours of work
59.4
HUD Fair Market Rent FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) · Chicago metro
04 · What's left is yours
Strained
What's left · yours
$2,573
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 41% 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 | 41.0 h | $1,167 | $28.43 | |
| 02 | Houston | 46.1 h | $1,261 | $27.33 | |
| 03 | Minneapolis–St. Paul | 46.2 h | $1,427 | $30.87 | |
| 04 | Phoenix | 51.9 h | $1,493 | $28.74 | |
| 05 | Dallas–Fort Worth | 53.7 h | $1,536 | $28.62 | |
| 06 | Philadelphia | 54.6 h | $1,558 | $28.54 | |
| 07 | Baltimore | 56.8 h | $1,625 | $28.59 | |
| 08 | Atlanta | 57.0 h | $1,619 | $28.41 | |
| 09 | Riverside–San Bernardino | 58.5 h | $1,705 | $29.13 | |
| 10 | Chicago | 59.4 h | $1,780 | $29.95 | |
| 11 | Denver | 59.6 h | $1,831 | $30.72 | |
| 12 | Seattle | 63.6 h | $2,180 | $34.25 | |
| 13 | Tampa | 67.8 h | $1,648 | $24.31 | |
| 14 | San Francisco | 71.7 h | $2,290 | $31.95 | |
| 15 | Washington, DC | 76.6 h | $2,204 | $28.76 | |
| 16 | San Diego | 81.2 h | $2,335 | $28.74 | |
| 17 | Boston | 81.8 h | $2,518 | $30.78 | |
| 18 | Los Angeles | 82.8 h | $2,402 | $29.01 | |
| 19 | Miami | 85.5 h | $2,121 | $24.80 | |
| 20 | New York | 87.3 h | $2,729 | $31.27 | |
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 | $5,192 | 173.3 | $62,300 ÷ 12 |
| Federal income tax | −$441 | 14.7 | $5,296/yr ÷ 12 |
| Social Security + Medicare | −$397 | 13.3 | $4,766/yr ÷ 12 |
| Take-home | $4,353 | 145.3 | IL wage tax not deducted |
| Rent · 1BR FMR | −$1,780 | 59.4 | HUD FY2027 (effective Oct 1, 2026) |
| Yours | $2,573 | 85.9 | take-home − rent |
Hours = dollars ÷ $29.95; 173.3 = 2,080 hrs ÷ 12. May not sum exactly due to rounding.
Same $1,780 one-bedroom, different truck driver 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 10 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.