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Here's the salary you need to afford rent in 10 of the largest US cities

Getty Images. In a 2016 report, SmartAsset determined just how much you need to earn to live in America's largest cities.

City life can be glamorous — but it comes with a price.

In a 2016 report, personal-finance site SmartAsset determined how much you need to earn to afford rent in the largest U.S. cities. Spoiler alert: For a handful of these hot spots, you may need to be raking in six figures.

SmartAsset looked at the average cost of renting available two-bedroom apartments in 2016 in each city.

To calculate the gross income required, the site set the rent-to-income ratio at 28%. "Government housing standards say that housing is affordable if it doesn't require a household to spend more than 30% of its income on housing-related expenses including utilities and rent," SmartAsset says in the report. "Therefore, we allowed for households to spend no more than 28% of their income on rent alone."

Read on to see how much you would have to make (before taxes) to afford rent in 10 of the biggest U.S. cities. We also included the percent change of average rents from 2015 to 2016 (provided by SmartAsset) to give you an idea of how much rent is increasing in each city.

Dallas, Texas

Income needed to pay rent: $62,700

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $1,463

Percent change from 2015: 10.2%

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Income needed to pay rent: $65,100

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $1,519

Percent change from 2015: -0.5%

Chicago, Illinois

Income needed to pay rent: $76,071

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $1,775

Percent change from 2015: 1.7%

Miami, Florida

Income needed to pay rent: $90,300

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $2,107

Percent change from 2015: 8.7%

Seattle, Washington

Income needed to pay rent: $98,271

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $2,293

Percent change from 2015: 7.3%

Washington, D.C.

Income needed to pay rent: $119,271

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $2,783

Percent change from 2015: 3.7%

Boston, Massachusetts

Income needed to pay rent: $120,900

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $2,821

Percent change from 2015: -0.2%

Los Angeles, California

Income needed to pay rent: $145,629

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $3,398

Percent change from 2015: 17.1%

New York, New York

Income needed to pay rent: $158,229

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $3,692

Percent change from 2015: -0.1%

San Francisco, California

Income needed to pay rent: $216,129

Average cost of renting a two-bedroom in 2016: $5,043

Percent change from 2015: 7.4%

Read the full report, which includes the methodology and income needed to pay rent in the 15 largest U.S. cities.



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