The salary you need to comfortably afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the 25 largest US cities, ranked

San Francisco
Four cities in California made the list. Pius Lee/Shutterstock

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  • SmartAsset found what income is needed to comfortably afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the 25 largest US cities.
  • The study calculated how much a renter would need to earn to spend no more than 28% of their annual income on rent.
  • In eight cities, renters need to earn more than $100,000.
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Rent for the average two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, California, is more than double the cost of rent in Denver, Colorado.

It's clear that depending on where in the United States you live, rent may take up a larger portion of your income.

SmartAsset found what income you need to comfortably afford the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the 25 largest cities, by population, across the country.

Comfortably, in this case, means spending no more than 28% of your annual salary on rent. The data on average two-bedroom apartment costs came from Zillow and is from April 2019.

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Read more: Here's how much it costs to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the 49 largest US cities

To be clear, 28% is just a benchmark and is actually lower than the 30% budget many experts recommend. In some cities with expensive housing markets, that figure can be unavoidably higher — though you can cut costs by pairing up with a roommate and splitting the rent.

Keep reading to see how much a two-bedroom apartment costs in the 25 largest US cities, ranked from the lowest to the highest annual income you'll need (before taxes) to comfortably afford that rent in each.

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25. Memphis, Tennessee

memphis
Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $814

Annual income needed: $34,886

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24. Detroit, Michigan

Detroit
Kemboslice/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $831

Annual income needed: $35,614

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23. El Paso, Texas

el paso texas
cht725/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $875

Annual income needed: $37,500

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22. Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis Indiana Circle
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $915

Annual income needed: $39,214

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21. Columbus, Ohio

columbus ohio
Columbus, Ohio in 2017. f11photo/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,050

Annual income needed: $45,000

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20. San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio Texas
cheng cheng/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,229

Annual income needed: $52,671

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19. Phoenix, Arizona

phoenix arizona skyline
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,250

Annual income needed: $53,571

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18. Jacksonville, Florida

jacksonville florida
Paul Brennan/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,279

Annual income needed: $54,793

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17. Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville
f11photo/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,500

Annual income needed: $64,286

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16. Houston, Texas

Houston Texas
f11photo/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,525

Annual income needed: $65,357

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15. Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte North Carolina
digidreamgrafix/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,526

Annual income needed: $65,400

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14. Fort Worth, Texas

fort worth texas
Philip Lange/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,600

Annual income needed: $68,571

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T14. Austin, Texas

Austin texas
f11photo/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,600

Annual income needed: $68,571

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12. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

philadelphia
Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,691

Annual income needed: $72,450

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11. Dallas, Texas

Dallas Texas
Sean Pavone/iStock

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,850

Annual income needed: $79,286

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10. Chicago, Illinois

Chicago The Loop
Sarah Jacobs/Business Insider

Average two-bedroom rent: $1,895

Annual income needed: $81,214

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9. Denver, Colorado

Denver Colorado
EdgeOfReason/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $2,151

Annual income needed: $92,164

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8. San Diego, California

san diego
Sebastien Burel/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $2,477

Annual income needed: $106,136

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7. Boston, Massachusetts

boston massachusetts
Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $2,500

Annual income needed: $107,143

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6. Seattle, Washington

seattle washington
Asif Islam/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $2,753

Annual income needed: $117,986

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5. Los Angeles, California

los angeles
Melpomene/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $3,000

Annual income needed: $128,571

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4. San Jose, California

San Jose California
Sundry Photography/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $3,088

Annual income needed: $132,343

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3. Washington, DC

Washington DC row houses
Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $3,100

Annual income needed: $132,857

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2. New York, New York (Manhattan only)

New York City
Stig Ottesen/Unsplash

Average two-bedroom rent (Manhattan only): $3,800

Annual income needed: $162,857

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1. San Francisco, California

San Francisco
Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock

Average two-bedroom rent: $4,593

Annual income needed: $196,843

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