--- title: You Now Need a Six-Figure Salary to Afford Rent in These 11 Cities description: The average U.S. renter needs to earn about $81,000 to avoid being "rent-burdened," according to the new Wallers, Weeks and Johnson Index. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former Money reporter who specialized in U.S. rent and real estate, with a focus on market trends and affordability. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true published: '2023-06-12T20:57:21.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T14:54:29.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News word_count: 683 canonical: https://money.com/six-figures-rent-cities/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Boston MA](https://img.money.com/2023/06/News-You-Need-Earn-6-Figures-to-Afford-Rent.jpg?crop=0px%2C267px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) In almost a dozen U.S. cities, not even some residents earning [six figures](https://money.com/six-figure-income-needed-to-afford-home/) can comfortably afford rent, according to new analysis. Renters in the country's 11 most expensive rental markets need to make more than $100,000 a year to avoid being "[rent-burdened](https://money.com/rent-30-percent-income-norm/)," meaning they spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing. That's according to the latest [Waller, Weeks and Johnson Index](https://business.fau.edu/executive-education/overvalued-rental-markets/index.php), a monthly report from researchers at Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University and the University of Alabama that ranks the most overvalued rental markets in the country using data from real estate listing site [Zillow](https://money.com/features-that-increase-home-sale-price/). The Waller, Weeks and Johnson Index estimates what average [rents](https://money.com/rent-prices-decline-march/) *should* be based past leasing data. As of April, the index estimates the current average U.S. rent at $2,018 but says it should be about $1,915 if prices followed rental trend models. - Financial experts typically recommend that households spend no more than 30% of their gross income on rent. Someone earning the median U.S. household income — $70,784, per 2021 [Census data](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-276.pdf) — would qualify as rent-burdened in the index's 44 most expensive cities for renters. - They would qualify as severely rent-burdened, meaning they dedicate over 50% of their household income to rent, in the top six cities (when ranked from highest to lowest average rent for the 100 markets analyzed). - Overall, the average U.S. renter needs to earn almost $81,000 a year to avoid being rent-burdened. ## The worst offenders In 11 U.S. metros, renters need to pull more than $100,000 in earnings a year to comfortably afford rent. California locations make up over half of the list. (Keep in mind that the estimates provided by the index are conservative, according to the researchers. The Waller, Weeks and Johnson Index doesn’t account for utilities, so the actual income needed to afford housing in the cities listed is probably higher.) These are the estimated yearly incomes needed as of April to avoid being rent-burdened in the most expensive U.S. rental markets, rounded to the nearest dollar: **1\. San Jose, California** Average rent: $3,289 Rent-burdened threshold: $131,563 a year **2\. New York, New York** Average rent: $3,229 Rent-burdened threshold: $129,174 a year **3\. San Francisco, California** Average rent: $3,122 Rent-burdened threshold: $124,873 a year **4\. San Diego, California** Average rent: $3,040 Rent-burdened threshold: $121,582 a year **5\. Oxnard, California** Average monthly rent: $2,982 Rent-burdened threshold: $119,284 a year **6\. Boston, Massachusetts** Average monthly rent: $2,978 Rent-burdened threshold: $119,130 a year **7\. Los Angeles, California** Average monthly rent: $2,940 Rent-burdened threshold: $117,614 a year **8\. Miami, Florida** Average rent: $2,805 Rent-burdened threshold: $112,184 a year **9\. Bridgeport, Connecticut** Average monthly rent: $2,737 Rent-burdened threshold: $109,478 a year **10\. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii** Average rent: $2,705 Rent-burdened threshold: $108,188 a year **11\. Riverside, California** Average monthly rent: $2,541 Rent-burdened threshold: $101,646 a year ## Why it's important The Waller, Weeks and Johnson Index shows just how unaffordable housing has become for the average American. Another [recent analysis,](https://money.com/rent-30-percent-income-norm/) from financial services firm Moody’s, backs up the index’s findings: At the end of 2022, the average U.S. rent surpassed the 30% threshold, which means being rent-burdened is increasingly becoming the norm. The pandemic’s influence on the housing market — alongside wages that aren’t keeping pace with the rising cost of living — have pushed rents to astronomical prices over the past few years. And even though costs finally started [cooling](https://money.com/cities-housing-market-costs-cooling/) this year, [high mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/) have pushed many would-be homeowners out of the market, further exacerbating [the issue](https://money.com/decrease-homes-middle-class-can-afford/). “This data illustrates perfectly what we’ve been saying about an ongoing housing affordability crisis,” Ken H. Johnson, an economist in Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business, said in a [news release](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/06/06/2683081/0/en/Report-Average-Renter-in-Much-of-U-S-Needs-100-000-Salary.html#:~:text=The%20Waller%2C%20Weeks%20and%20Johnson,ranked%20in%20the%20Top%2010.). “Rents aren’t coming down significantly, if at all, so until incomes increase sharply, consumers in much of the country will continue to do without basic needs.” ['Do I Put Off My Dream?' Steep Down Payments Are a Nightmare for First-Time Homebuyers](https://money.com/homebuyers-saving-down-payment-nightmare/) [Here's Why Home Shoppers Are Second-Guessing Their Plans to Buy in the Next Year](https://money.com/home-shopper-concerns-inflation-mortgage-rates/) [1 in 3 Homebuyers Are Now Paying All Cash: Report](https://money.com/homebuyers-all-cash-offers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/six-figures-rent-cities/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Renting", "item": "https://money.com/renting/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You Now Need a Six-Figure Salary to Afford Rent in These 11 Cities" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/six-figures-rent-cities/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/six-figures-rent-cities/", "name": "You Now Need a Six-Figure Salary to Afford Rent in These 11 Cities", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-06-12T20:57:21.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/six-figures-rent-cities/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/six-figures-rent-cities/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:54:29.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "You Now Need a Six-Figure Salary to Afford Rent in These 11 Cities", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/06/News-You-Need-Earn-6-Figures-to-Afford-Rent.jpg?crop=0px%2C267px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-You-Need-Earn-6-Figures-to-Afford-Rent" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ellen Cagnassola", "url": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/#author", "description": "Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former Money reporter who specialized in U.S. rent and real estate, with a focus on market trends and affordability.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/mary-ellen.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Rutgers University, BA Journalism" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-06-12T20:57:21.000Z", "description": "The average U.S. renter needs to earn about $81,000 to avoid being \"rent-burdened,\" according to the new Wallers, Weeks and Johnson Index.", "abstract": "The average U.S. renter needs to earn about $81,000 to avoid being \"rent-burdened,\" according to the new Wallers, Weeks and Johnson Index.", "@id": "https://money.com/six-figures-rent-cities/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:54:29.000Z", "wordCount": 683, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Housing in the United States", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_States" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Renting", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renting" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Inflation", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation" ] } ] } ] } ```