salaryEvery page is built from public data published by the U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey). We turn those tables into plain answers: how much rent costs, what families earn, what a house costs, and what salary you need.
How we calculate
Rent is the median monthly rent plus utilities paid by renters who moved in 2021 or later, which is closer to today's prices than the average of all renters. Income is median household income. A city is Cheap when rent takes under 20% of that income, OK under 30%, and Expensive above that.
Overall prices and the salary calculator use the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis's Regional Price Parities (2024), the official measure of price differences between metro areas. Where no metro figure exists, the state figure is used and labeled. Property taxes and electric bills come from the Census Bureau. Job pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2024).
Limits
These are estimates. Prices for a specific apartment or neighborhood can be very different. Use SalaryVsRent as a starting point, not as financial advice.