Source: Houston, Texas’ beautiful Discovery Green municipal park, which hosts various events, art shows and concerts throughout the year. Discovery Green is nestled between the convention center, high rise office towers, hotels and high rise residential skyscrapers making this a unique urban green space. (Art Wager via Getty Images)
Rent costs are on many American minds these days, as the average American needs to make $80,949 a year to afford a standard rental property, according to a study by Zillow. In the same study, Zillow outlined how much Americans have to make to afford rent in major cities, including Houston.
Just five years ago, that $80,000 figure sat at $60,000, highlighting a concerning trend when it comes to housing in the U.S. It’s well known salaries have failed to match the rate of inflation for decades, with the gap is widening at an accelerating rate.
RELATED STORY: Here’s How Much You Need to Make to Afford Houston Rent in 2025
Zillow released a report of the 50-largest rental markets, outlining the annual salary needed to rent comfortably in each market, the change in income needed compared to five years ago, their Zillow “Observed Rent Index” (ZORI) and the percentage of income the median renter is spending on rent.
ZORI is “a smooth measure of the typical observed market rate rent across a given region,” which includes taking properties that are not currently available into consideration when calculating the data.
RELATED STORY: 30 Largest Cities in Texas
On this list, here’s 50 of the largest rental markets in the U.S., ranked from most to least income needed to live comfortably in the respective markets. For Houstonians, they may be surprised to see Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city and fifth-largest rental market, is far more affordable than comparable markets.
Data taken from Zillow’s “Number of Markets Where Renters Need to Earn $100K to Afford Rent Has Doubled Since 2020” press release, published on May 12, 2025.
Income Needed to Rent Comfortably in 50 U.S. Cities (Houston May Surprise You) was originally published on 93qcountry.com
1. New York City, NY
Income Needed: $144,960
ZORI: $3,624
Rate of Change Since 2020: 24.8%
2. San Jose, CA
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $136,532
ZORI: $3,413
Rate of Change Since 2020: 13.0%
3. Boston, MA
Income Needed: $127,007
ZORI: $3,175
Rate of Change Since 2020: 26.8%
4. San Francisco, CA
Income Needed: $124,267
ZORI: $3,107
Rate of Change Since 2020: 9.3%
5. San Diego, CA
Income Needed: $122,810
ZORI: $3,070
Rate of Change Since 2020: 40.8%
6. Los Angeles, CA
Income Needed: $118,958
ZORI: $2,974
Rate of Change Since 2020: 28.3%
7. Miami, FL
Income Needed: $109,962
ZORI: $2,749
Rate of Change Since 2020: 54.4%
8. Riverside, CA
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $102,722
ZORI: $2,568
Rate of Change Since 2020: 45.6%
9. Washington D.C.
Income Needed: $97,179
ZORI: $2,429
Rate of Change Since 2020: 24.4%
10. Sacramento, CA
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $94,002
ZORI: $2,350
Rate of Change Since 2020: 30.7%
11. Seattle, WA
Income Needed: $90,840
ZORI: $2,271
Rate of Change Since 2020: $90,840
12. Providence, RI
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $87,829
ZORI: $2,196
Rate of Change Since 2020: 51.2%
13. Chicago, IL
Income Needed: $87,428
ZORI: $2,186
Rate of Change Since 2020: 31.1%
14. Tampa, FL
Income Needed: $86,301
ZORI: $2,158
Rate of Change Since 2020: 52.0%
15. Orlando, FL
Income Needed: $81,789
ZORI: $2,045
Rate of Change Since 2020: 37.5%
16. Denver, CO
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $78,862
ZORI: $1,972
Rate of Change Since 2020: 22.8%
17. Hartford, CT
Income Needed: $77,119
ZORI: $1,928
Rate of Change Since 2020: 45.2%
18. Philadelphia, PA
Income Needed: $77,058
ZORI: $1,926
Rate of Change Since 2020: 29.0%
19. Atlanta, GA
Income Needed: $76,745
ZORI: $1,919
Rate of Change Since 2020: 36.3%
20. Baltimore, MD
Income Needed: $75,158
ZORI: $1,879
Rate of Change Since 2020: 29.6%
21. Nashville, TN
Income Needed: $74,739
ZORI: $1,868
Rate of Change Since 2020: 28.8%
22. Phoenix, AZ
Income Needed: $74,101
ZORI: $1,853
Rate of Change Since 2020: 35.9%
23. Portland, OR
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $74,076
ZORI: $1,852
Rate of Change Since 2020: 24.2%
24. Charlotte, NC
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $72,091
ZORI: $1,802
Rate of Change Since 2020: 35.8%
25. Las Vegas, NV
Income Needed: $72,060
ZORI: $1,801
Rate of Change Since 2020: 35.6%
26. Virginia Beach, VA
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $71,908
ZORI: $1,798
Rate of Change Since 2020: 43.0%
27. Dallas, TX
Income Needed: $71,413
ZORI: $1,785
Rate of Change Since 2020: 28.6%
28. Raleigh, NC
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $70,451
ZORI: $1,761
Rate of Change Since 2020: 31.0%
29. Salt Lake City, UT
Income Needed: $69,881
ZORI: $1,747
Rate of Change Since 2020: 34.2%
30. Jacksonville, FL
Income Needed: $69,670
ZORI: $1,742
Rate of Change Since 2020: 36.7%
31. Austin, TX
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $68,840
ZORI: $1,721
Rate of Change Since 2020: 17.6%
32. Richmond, VA
Source:Radio One
Income Needed: $68,307
ZORI: $1,708
Rate of Change Since 2020: 40.2%
33. Houston, TX
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $67,731
ZORI: $1,693
Rate of Change Since 2020: 23.4%
34. Minneapolis, MN
Income Needed: $67,714
ZORI: $1,693
Rate of Change Since 2020: 17.6%
35. New Orleans, LA
Income Needed: $66,141
ZORI: $1,654
Rate of Change Since 2020: 28.7%
36. Indianapolis, IN
Income Needed: $64,391
ZORI: $1,610
Rate of Change Since 2020: 41.6%
37. Cincinnati, OH
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $63,444
ZORI: $1,586
Rate of Change Since 2020: 39.5%
38. Columbus, OH
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $62,493
ZORI: $1,562
Rate of Change Since 2020: 36.9%
39. Kansas City, MO
Income Needed: $61,457
ZORI: $1,536
Rate of Change Since 2020: 38.7%
40. Detroit, MI
Income Needed: $59,873
ZORI: $1,497
Rate of Change Since 2020: 38.5%
41. Pittsburgh, PA
Income Needed: $59,274
ZORI: $1,482
Rate of Change Since 2020: 28.2%
42. Milwaukee, WI
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $59,139
ZORI: $1,478
Rate of Change Since 2020: 32.6%
43. Memphis, TN
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $58,761
ZORI: $1,469
Rate of Change Since 2020: 37.7%
44. San Antonio, TX
Income Needed: $58,590
ZORI: $1,802
Rate of Change Since 2020: 35.8%
45. Cleveland, OH
Income Needed: $58,497
ZORI: $1,462
Rate of Change Since 2020: 40.9%
46. Birmingham, AL
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $57,428
ZORI: $1,436
Rate of Change Since 2020: 32.7%
47. St. Louis, MO
Income Needed: $57,104
ZORI: $1,428
Rate of Change Since 2020: 37.4%
48. Louisville, KY
Income Needed: $56,549
ZORI: $1,414
Rate of Change Since 2020: 35.7%
49. Oklahoma City, OK
Source:Getty
Income Needed: $55,634
ZORI: $1,391
Rate of Change Since 2020: 33.4%
50. Buffalo, NY
Income Needed: $55,319
ZORI: $1,383
Rate of Change Since 2020: 38.9%
