US cities where a teacher can't afford rent, ranked
A typical elementary school teacher in San Francisco, CA would spend +62.2% of income on the median rent — the steepest of any large US city, and rent-burdened in 198 cities nationwide.
The federal standard says rent is "affordable" when it eats no more than 30% of your income. For one of America's most essential jobs — the elementary school teacher — that line is crossed in 198 of the large US cities we track. This ranking lists the 25 where it's worst, comparing the typical teacher's state salary (BLS OEWS 2024) against the city's median rent (ZORI April 2026).
In San Francisco, CA, a teacher earning $79,154/year would spend +62.2% of gross income on the $4,101/month median rent — far past the 30% affordability line, and well above the $1,979/month a teacher there could comfortably afford.
| # | City | Teacher salary | Median rent | % of income on rent | Affordable rent (30%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $79,154/yr | $4,101/mo | +62.2% | $1,979/mo |
| 2 | New York, NY | $76,471/yr | $3,927/mo | +61.6% | $1,912/mo |
| 3 | Miami, FL | $62,384/yr | $3,012/mo | +57.9% | $1,560/mo |
| 4 | Boca Raton, FL | $62,384/yr | $2,951/mo | +56.8% | $1,560/mo |
| 5 | Santa Clara, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,727/mo | +56.5% | $1,979/mo |
| 6 | Cambridge, MA | $77,813/yr | $3,584/mo | +55.3% | $1,945/mo |
| 7 | Sunnyvale, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,628/mo | +55.0% | $1,979/mo |
| 8 | Miami Gardens, FL | $62,384/yr | $2,823/mo | +54.3% | $1,560/mo |
| 9 | San Mateo, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,561/mo | +54.0% | $1,979/mo |
| 10 | Fort Lauderdale, FL | $62,384/yr | $2,737/mo | +52.6% | $1,560/mo |
| 11 | Carlsbad, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,472/mo | +52.6% | $1,979/mo |
| 12 | Boston, MA | $77,813/yr | $3,413/mo | +52.6% | $1,945/mo |
| 13 | Thousand Oaks, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,396/mo | +51.5% | $1,979/mo |
| 14 | Pembroke Pines, FL | $62,384/yr | $2,657/mo | +51.1% | $1,560/mo |
| 15 | San Jose, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,329/mo | +50.5% | $1,979/mo |
| 16 | Irvine, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,300/mo | +50.0% | $1,979/mo |
| 17 | Jersey City, NJ | $75,130/yr | $3,117/mo | +49.8% | $1,878/mo |
| 18 | Miramar, FL | $62,384/yr | $2,564/mo | +49.3% | $1,560/mo |
| 19 | Orange, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,239/mo | +49.1% | $1,979/mo |
| 20 | Fremont, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,146/mo | +47.7% | $1,979/mo |
| 21 | Berkeley, CA | $79,154/yr | $3,136/mo | +47.5% | $1,979/mo |
| 22 | Stamford, CT | $73,788/yr | $2,900/mo | +47.2% | $1,845/mo |
| 23 | Davie, FL | $62,384/yr | $2,443/mo | +47.0% | $1,560/mo |
| 24 | Arlington, VA | $68,422/yr | $2,662/mo | +46.7% | $1,711/mo |
| 25 | Hialeah, FL | $62,384/yr | $2,423/mo | +46.6% | $1,560/mo |
Key findings
- San Francisco, CA is the hardest large US city for a teacher to afford rent, at +62.2% of income.
- A typical elementary school teacher is rent-burdened (paying 30%+ of income on the median rent) in 198 of the large US cities we track.
- The worst markets pair high coastal rents with teacher pay scales that haven't kept up — the salary gap, not just the rent, is what tips these cities over the line.
- Rent burden is the better affordability signal than rent price alone: a $2,800/mo rent is manageable on a six-figure salary but punishing on a teacher's.
How other essential workers compare nationally
It isn't only teachers. Against the $1,895 US national median rent, here's how a basket of essential occupations stacks up on the 30% rule, using national-median BLS wages:
| Occupation (US median) | Annual salary | % of income on national median rent | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waiter or Waitress | $36,530/yr | +62.3% | Rent-burdened |
| Retail Salesperson | $37,070/yr | +61.3% | Rent-burdened |
| Firefighter | $62,810/yr | +36.2% | Rent-burdened |
| Elementary School Teacher | $67,080/yr | +33.9% | Rent-burdened |
| Police Officer | $77,270/yr | +29.4% | Affordable |
| Registered Nurse | $94,480/yr | +24.1% | Affordable |
How we measure it
We use the same affordability math as the rest of RentDataNow: annual salary × 30% ÷ 12 is the monthly rent a worker can afford without being rent-burdened. Wages are the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) state mean for elementary school teachers; rent is the Zillow Observed Rent Index for April 2026. Click any city to open its full salary-vs-rent breakdown, which runs the same calculation for 30 occupations and shows what each one can afford locally.
This study compares occupational wages against local rent using the standard 30%-of-income affordability rule. A worker can "afford" a rent if it is no more than 30% of gross monthly income (annual salary × 0.30 ÷ 12).
Wages are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 release — the annual mean wage for elementary school teachers (excluding special and career/technical education) at the state level. Each city is matched to its state's wage, falling back to the national mean where a state figure is unavailable. This mirrors the affordability calculation used throughout RentDataNow's salary-vs-rent pages.
Rent is the Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI) for April 2026, the smoothed citywide median. The universe is US cities with at least 100,000 residents per the US Census ACS 5-year estimate; ZORI markets above $20,000/month are excluded as outliers. The national-comparison table uses BLS national-median wages against the $1,895 US national median rent.
Figures describe the typical worker and typical rent; individual circumstances vary. This is a descriptive affordability indicator, not financial advice.
The full underlying dataset is available as a CSV for verification, republishing, or extending the analysis.
↓ cities-where-teachers-cant-afford-rent.csvThese findings and the accompanying dataset are released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. You are free to republish, including commercially, as long as you credit RentDataNow and link back to this page so readers can verify the underlying data.
RentDataNow Data Team (2026). "US cities where a teacher can't afford rent, ranked." RentDataNow. Retrieved from https://rentdatanow.com/studies/cities-where-teachers-cant-afford-rent
- BLS OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) — May 2024, state and national mean wages by occupation. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov/oes.
- ZORI (Zillow Observed Rent Index) — monthly city-level median rent, smoothed repeat-rent methodology. Public download at zillow.com/research/data.
- US Census ACS 5-year estimates — Table B01003 (population). US Census Bureau, latest published vintage.
- RentDataNow salary-vs-rent pages — every city links to the full affordability breakdown across 30 occupations.
RentDataNow publishes original research grounded in ZORI rent data, BLS wage data, HUD Fair Market Rents, and US Census demographics. Every study includes the underlying numbers, methodology, and sources so readers can verify or extend the analysis.
RentDataNow is an independent service and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Zillow Group, Inc., the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or any government agency. ZORI (Zillow Observed Rent Index), the American Community Survey, Fair Market Rents, and other product names are trademarks of their respective owners, used here for identification only. Figures are provided "as is" without warranty of accuracy or completeness, and any reuse is at your own risk. See our Terms of Service for full terms.