How you need to earn a SIX FIGURE salary to afford rent in five of the largest U.S. cities to be ‘comfortable’

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Workers in San Francisco need a $216,129 salary to not feel cost-burdened
The average cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment is $5,043-a-month
New York is second most expensive place to live
Workers need to earn a salary of $158,229 to feel comfortable
28 percent rent-to-income ratio was used to work out the salaries needed

Published: 10:59 EST, 10 October 2016 | Updated: 13:54 EST, 10 October 2016

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A shocking report has revealed how much money Americans need to earn before tax to be able to live 'comfortably' in the country's largest cities.

In San Francisco, America's most expensive city, workers need a $216,129 salary to not feel burdened by the cost of renting the average two-bedroom apartment at $5,043-a-month.

Households that spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing and utility bills are considered 'cost-burdened households', based on a threshold set by The Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In the new report by SmartAsset, a 28 per cent rent-to-income ratio was used to determine how much money households need to afford a two-bed apartment in the largest U.S. cities without feeling ‘cost-burdened’.

San Francisco: Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment = $5,043. Salary needed = $216,129

New York: Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment = $3,692. Salary needed = $158,229

In San Francisco, where the report suggests people need a salary of $216,129, the reality is that wages haven’t kept up with the rising cost of rent. The median household income in the city is still only $78,378.

THE SALARY YOU NEED TO AFFORD RENT

San Francisco, California - $216,129

New York, New York - $158,229

Los Angeles, California - $145,629

Boston, Massachusetts - $120,900

Washington, D.C. - $119,271

Seattle, Washington - $98,271

Miami, Florida - $90,300

Chicago, Illinois - $76,071

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - $65,100

Dallas, Texas - $62,700

New York is the second most expensive place to live - with workers needing to earn a salary of $158,229 to make the cost of renting a two-bed apartment at $3,692-a-month affordable.

And the total cost of living in New York, when you throw in factors such as food and transportation, is reportedly nearly 70 per cent higher than the average costs in the rest of the nation.

In Los Angeles you need a $145,629 salary to not feel burdened by the average cost of renting a two-bed at $3,398.

Worryingly, the cost of renting in LA had risen by 17.1 per cent since 2015 -a sharper rise than any other city.

‘Out of the 15 big cities that we analyzed, only three of them saw average rental rates fall between 2015 and 2016. Among the trio with declining rents, none of their fair market rents dropped by more than half of a percentage,’ SmartAsset reported.

Los Angeles: Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment = $3,398. Salary needed =$145,629

Boston: Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment = $2,821. Salary needed = $120,900

Washington, D.C: Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment = $2,783. Salary needed = $119,271

Rising rents: The three cities that have seen the biggest increase in rent prices since 2015 are LA, Phoenix and Dallas

The fourth most expensive place to live is Boston, Massachusetts.

You’ll need a $120,900-a-year salary to find the average Boston apartment with a couple of bedrooms affordable at $2,821 per month.

The cheapest city to live out of the top 10 largest is Dallas, where you need a salary of $62,700 to comfortably pay the $1,463-a-month needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment.

However, SmartAsset found that the average market rents have increased 10.2 per cent in Dallas in the past year. That’s a faster rate than all but two other big cities in the study.