In order to rent a home in the United States in some cities, you must earn at least twice the salary received by any American.
For most renters, the cost of renting has become very exaggerated and according to personal finance experts, the cost of rent should represent 30% of the family budget.
With the rent hike coming in 2021, cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, which have always been expensive, have now become out of reach for many.
In New York alone, a person would have to earn approximately $254,040 a year to spend only 30% of their budget on housing rent, which represents four times the annual salary of a household, which is currently $64,994. roughly according to the US Census.
Most expensive cities to rent in the US
So we are going to share the table of the approximate salaries you need to be able to keep rental costs at 30% of your total income:
| Cities | Average cost of rent | Annual salary required |
| New York N.Y. | $6,351.00 | $254K |
| Boston Mass. | $4,700.00 | $188K |
| Oakland Calif. | $4,430.00 | $177.2K |
| San Francisco Calif. | $4,336.00 | $173.4K |
| Los Angeles Calif. | $3,952.00 | $158.1K |
| San Diego Calif. | $3,913.00 | $156.5K |
| SeattleWash. | $3,614.00 | $144.5K |
| San Jose Calif. | $3,517.00 | $140.7K |
| Santa Ana Calif. | $2,988.00 | $119.5K |
| Chicago Ill. | $2,947.00 | $117.9K |
| Washington D.C. | $2,830.00 | $113.2K |
| Denver Colo. | $2,763.00 | $110.5K |
| Sacramento Calif. | $2,631.00 | $105.2K |
| Portland Ore. | $2,529.00 | $101.2K |
| Miami Fla. | $2,507.00 | $100.3K |
However, we can limit that in large cities, people manage a higher income than other places where housing costs tend to be lower.
This rental data is based on predetermined inventory, separated by one and two bedroom units from July 2021 to July 2022, so rental prices are based on average estimates only.