How Much Rent Can You Actually Afford?
By Mo Basha · Updated September 15, 2026
The classic advice says spend no more than 30% of your income on rent. The advice is fine; the way people apply it is not. The 30% guideline comes from federal housing policy and was always meant as a share of gross income — but your rent comes out of your take-home, and the gap between those two numbers is thousands of dollars.
On a $60,000 salary, 30% of gross is $1,500 a month. But after federal taxes and FICA, take-home is about $4,199 a month — so a $1,500 rent is actually 36% of what hits your account. That's the difference between "comfortable" on paper and "tight" in practice.
Two ways to run the number
The gross method (what landlords use): most landlords and application screeners require income of 40× the monthly rent — which is just the 30% rule rearranged. $2,000 rent needs $80,000 of income to pass most screenings.
The net method (what your budget uses): take your actual monthly take-home and cap rent at 30–35% of it. This automatically accounts for your state taxes, 401(k) contributions and health premiums — things the gross method ignores entirely. Two people earning the same salary in Texas and California can afford meaningfully different rents.
Rent budgets by salary
Computed for a single filer with 2026 federal rates and no state tax — subtract more in high-tax states (your state's paycheck calculator gives the exact figure):
| Salary | Take-home / mo | 30% of take-home | 40×-rule max rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $3,195 | $958 | $1,125 |
| $60,000 | $4,199 | $1,260 | $1,500 |
| $75,000 | $5,133 | $1,540 | $1,875 |
| $90,000 | $6,012 | $1,804 | $2,250 |
| $120,000 | $7,771 | $2,331 | $3,000 |
When 30% is impossible
In New York, San Francisco, Boston or Miami, median one-bedroom rents can swallow 40–50% of a median take-home, and pretending otherwise helps no one. If you're above 35%, the workable levers are: a roommate (splitting a 2-bedroom usually beats two 1-bedrooms by hundreds a month), extending your commute one transit zone, or negotiating — asking for a lower increase at renewal works more often than people expect, because turnover costs landlords a month of rent or more.
What shouldn't flex: if rent forces your savings rate to zero for years, that's not a housing decision anymore — it's a career or city decision wearing a housing costume.
Do the math yourself
Written by Mo Basha
Mo runs payroll, sales-tax compliance and e-commerce operations for several businesses, and builds DollarCalcs to make that math free for everyone. Every figure in this article is computed with the same engines that power the calculators, using current-year IRS and state data. More about how we work →
Frequently asked questions
+Is the 30% rule based on gross or net income?
Historically gross — it descends from 1980s federal housing guidelines. For personal budgeting, applying 30–35% to net (take-home) income is more honest, because taxes and pre-tax benefits vary so much between people with identical salaries.
+What salary do I need for $2,000 rent?
By the 40× screening rule: $80,000 gross. By the net method: about $6,000–6,700 of monthly take-home, which is roughly $85,000–95,000 of salary depending on your state and deductions.
+Do utilities count toward the 30%?
The original guideline included basic utilities. In practice, budget rent at 30% and add $150–300 for utilities, or use 35% as your all-in housing ceiling.