US rent guide
What Salary You Need to Afford Rent in Every State (July 2026)
Data as of Jun 9, 2026 · 27,862 rentals across 33 states
You’ve probably heard the rule of thumb: keep rent under 30% of your income. Flip it around and any rent tells you the salary you’d need to hit that mark, just multiply the monthly rent by 40. So we ran that math on the real median rent in every state we track. No estimates or survey averages, just the midpoint of the apartments actually listed right now. Here’s what each state asks of your paycheck.
Typical US rent
$1,445/mo
Income needed (30% rule)
$58,000/yr
That is about
$28/hr
The spread between states is huge. Renting at the median in Oklahoma asks for about $40,000 a year; doing the same in Massachusetts takes roughly $107,000, a difference of $67,000 in required salary for the exact same 30%-of-income target. Same rule, very different paycheck.
Salary needed by state, lowest first
Ranked by the annual income each state’s median rent requires under the 30% rule. States with at least twenty live listings are included; rooms and senior housing are excluded so it’s standard apartments only. Tap a state to see its cities and current listings.
| # | State | Median rent | Income needed | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | $999 | $40,000 | $19 |
| 2 | Iowa | $1,050 | $42,000 | $20 |
| 3 | Alabama | $1,099 | $44,000 | $21 |
| 4 | Indiana | $1,130 | $45,000 | $22 |
| 5 | Missouri | $1,128 | $45,000 | $22 |
| 6 | Texas | $1,138 | $46,000 | $22 |
| 7 | Kentucky | $1,150 | $46,000 | $22 |
| 8 | Louisiana | $1,172 | $47,000 | $23 |
| 9 | Ohio | $1,195 | $48,000 | $23 |
| 10 | North Carolina | $1,270 | $51,000 | $25 |
| 11 | Michigan | $1,265 | $51,000 | $25 |
| 12 | Arizona | $1,299 | $52,000 | $25 |
| 13 | Tennessee | $1,300 | $52,000 | $25 |
| 14 | Wisconsin | $1,310 | $52,000 | $25 |
| 15 | Georgia | $1,329 | $53,000 | $25 |
| 16 | Nevada | $1,331 | $53,000 | $25 |
| 17 | Utah | $1,339 | $54,000 | $26 |
| 18 | Minnesota | $1,385 | $55,000 | $26 |
| 19 | South Carolina | $1,395 | $56,000 | $27 |
| 20 | Colorado | $1,432 | $57,000 | $27 |
| 21 | Oregon | $1,449 | $58,000 | $28 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $1,512 | $60,000 | $29 |
| 23 | Florida | $1,556 | $62,000 | $30 |
| 24 | Virginia | $1,598 | $64,000 | $31 |
| 25 | Maryland | $1,621 | $65,000 | $31 |
| 26 | Washington | $1,689 | $68,000 | $33 |
| 27 | Illinois | $1,805 | $72,000 | $35 |
| 28 | Rhode Island | $1,900 | $76,000 | $37 |
| 29 | Connecticut | $1,920 | $77,000 | $37 |
| 30 | New York | $1,942 | $78,000 | $38 |
| 31 | New Jersey | $2,178 | $87,000 | $42 |
| 32 | California | $2,249 | $90,000 | $43 |
| 33 | Massachusetts | $2,669 | $107,000 | $51 |
How we calculated it
“Median rent” is the midpoint of every standard apartment we currently track in that state, so half are cheaper and half pricier (the median resists a few luxury outliers skewing the number the way an average would). “Income needed” applies the 30% rule (annual income = monthly rent × 40) and rounds to the nearest $1,000; “hourly” divides that by 2,080 full-time hours. These are budgeting benchmarks, not a qualification standard, plenty of renters spend more than 30%, and landlords often use a 2.5x-3x monthly-rent income test instead. Figures refresh whenever our listing data does (last updated Jun 9, 2026).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to afford an apartment in the US?
On the 30% rule, the typical apartment we track (median $1,445/mo) needs about $58,000 a year, roughly $28/hour full-time. Where you rent swings it hard: Oklahoma needs about $40,000, while Massachusetts needs about $107,000.
What is the 30% rule for rent?
The common guideline is to keep rent at or below 30% of your gross (pre-tax) income. Flipped around, the annual income you "need" is your monthly rent times 40 (rent x 12 / 0.30). A $1,500/mo apartment works out to about $60,000 a year.
Which state is the most affordable to rent in?
Of the states we track, Oklahoma has the lowest income bar, about $40,000/year for its median $999/mo rent. The full ranking is in the table above, sorted by the salary required.
Is the 30% rule realistic?
For a lot of renters, not really, roughly half of US renters are "cost-burdened" and spend more than 30% of income on housing, and the share is higher in the priciest states. Treat these as a budgeting benchmark, not a hard rule, and lean on the cheaper states (and our cheapest-first listings) to get closer to it.
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