How Much Rent Can I Afford Making $20 an Hour?

You can afford up to $1,248 per month on rent. As a general rule, it is recommended to keep rental fee below $971 per month or 28% of your monthly income. Some landlords do not accept tenants with more than 1/3 of gross income on rent, which is $1,144.

How much rent can I afford if I make $20 an hour?

You can afford to spend $1,248 on rent each month which is about 36.00% of your monthly pre-tax income of $3,466.67 or $20 an hour.

Monthly Expenses

The cost of living varies from state to state and family to family. You should also make sure you factor in your monthly expenses and debts that you may have before deciding how much you should spend on rent. One should add up all the bills including credit cards, utilities, cell phones, transportation, loans, cable costs, insurance, and any other bills that you may have. Then subtract the total monthly expenses from your take home pay, which is your monthly salary after tax and other deductions.

Following is a table that shows you how much rent you can afford each month based on your monthy expenses if you make $20 an hour in pre-tax income.

Taxes & Deductions

The tax rate may also have an effect on your ability to pay your rent. The tax rate on $20 an hour will be lower if you have dependents and a family to take care, but your expenses will be higher. New graduates that are just starting their first jobs may be surprised to find out how much deductions there are on their salary. After you factor in all the expenses that you have each month, you can then get a fairly accurate estimate on how much you can afford to spend on rent with an hourly rate of $20.