How many hours do you have to spend at work to keep a roof over your head at home?
A new report from SmartAsset calculates how many hours you need to work to afford rent in the 25 largest U.S. cities by looking at average annual take-home pay, average hours worked per year and median rent for each place. All data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's One-Year American Community Survey. Read a full explanation of the methodology here.
In every place, it takes more than 55 hours to earn enough to pay rent, but some cities fare far better than others and, overall, SmartAsset finds, "Midwest is best," while residents in California have the toughest time.
Here are the 11 locations where residents have to put the most time toward their monthly rent check.
11. Dallas
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 64.5
Median monthly rent: $935
Estimated hourly wage: $14.50
10. Charlotte
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 65.1
Median monthly rent: $1,052
Estimated hourly wage: $16.15
9. Phoenix
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 65.8
Median monthly rent: $960
Estimated hourly wage: $14.59
8. Houston
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 66.3
Median monthly rent: $952
Estimated hourly wage: $14.36
7. Denver
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 69.1
Median monthly rent: $1,223
Estimated hourly wage: $17.69
6. San Francisco
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 71.9
Median monthly rent: $1,784
Estimated hourly wage: $24.81
5. Boston
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 74.2
Median monthly rent: $1,491
Estimated hourly wage: $20.10
4. New York
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 79.6
Median monthly rent: $1,351
Estimated hourly wage: $16.98
3. San Diego
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 86.2
Median monthly rent: $1,552
Estimated hourly wage: $18.01
2. Los Angeles
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 88.6
Median monthly rent: $1,315
Estimated hourly wage: $14.85
1. San Jose
Hours of work needed to pay rent: 89.7
Median monthly rent: $1,919
Estimated hourly wage: $21.40
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