A Dynamic Living Wage For Every U.S. Citizen
Four Times Rent
A month of full-time work should take home at least four times the rent on a place of your own. Enter the ZIP code where the job is and the pay to see whether it meets the standard.
(Median housing cost × 4) ÷ 160 hrs = required take-home per hour
Housing for one: living/sleeping area, bathroom, full kitchen.
Take-home standard––
Gross to ask for––
Employers meeting the standard here
ZIP codes
The county figure sets the standard. ZIP figures are context only and never change a verdict. Flagged ZIPs run more than 10% from the county figure.
| ZIP | Place | Studio / mo | vs county | Take-home / hr | Gross / hr | |
|---|
Where the numbers come from
- Housing cost: HUD Fair Market Rents for a studio (efficiency), gross rent including utilities.
- County figure: the middle value of HUD's ZIP-level studio rents for residential ZIP codes whose homes are mostly in the county. Counties with fewer than three such ZIPs use HUD's county figure.
- ZIP to county: HUD USPS ZIP–County Crosswalk. Each ZIP goes to the county holding most of its addresses; other counties holding at least 5% are offered as choices.
- Taxes: federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, state income tax and state payroll deductions for a single filer, computed with the open-source PolicyEngine model. New York City and Maryland county income taxes are included; other local income taxes are not yet.
- Minimum wage: state rate from the U.S. Department of Labor, with regional rates for New York and Oregon. City and county ordinances are not yet included.
How the verdict works
- The standard is set on take-home pay. The gross figure is the pre-tax hourly rate that produces it for a single filer at 160 hours a month.
- A job is judged on its gross hourly rate against the gross standard. Salaries are converted at the stated weekly hours.
- Part-time jobs can meet the hourly standard while falling short of the monthly target. Both are shown.
- Assumes no pre-tax deductions such as health premiums or retirement contributions.
Known limits
- HUD rents sit at the 40th percentile of local rents, below the true median. Figures here are a floor.
- When a ZIP code crosses county lines, pick the county where the job actually is.
- Tax figures are estimates, not tax advice.