AffordWork.com

AffordWork.com
The Afford-to-Work Project

An HR wage research tool, or workers can find a location they can afford.

50-state local housing affordability by wage calculator

- Can you afford local housing rents?
- How far must you commute to find affordable housing?
- What size housing can you afford and where?

1. Enter 5-digit ZIP Code of Work Location
2. Search within Miles of above work location ZIP Code
3. Enter annual pay $ or, enter Hourly Wage $ times hours per week
4. Maximum percent of monthly pay allocated for rent % (above 30% is cost-constrained)
5. Enter cost of commuting per mile (gas, oil, tires, electricty) $ (per mile)
6. Display Commuting Cost, Population data, Race data, Gender data

Not all zip codes in the USA have land mass and geographic centers, so if your zip code returns no results, try a nearby zip code.
(Free to use, no cookies, no name, no account, no password needed.)

DATA SOURCES
1) Rent data from 2025 HUD Fair Market Rents (40th percentile.)
2) Demographic data from US Census Bureau published in 2023. Next publishing update would be in 2025.
3) Zip Codes by USPS (29,501 zip codes with rental data over 50 states and Puerto Rico.)

Welcome to the Afford Work Project:

I am an HR Director with a long career in employee and executive compensation and benefits. In our greater Cincinnati area, we experienced such a rapid increase in rents (4th highest in USA) that affordable housing outpaced payrates requiring reviews of all compensation levels.

But there were no accurate nationwide affordability calculators despite demand and obvious need. This gave way to the Afford Work Project.

Unlike living wage calculators that over inflate expenses, we needed an accurate affordability floor threshold, so we use the actual 2025 HUD Fair Market Rents by zip code data. HUD's Fair Market Rent data is the 40th percentile, so it is a realistic minimum amount needed to secure local housing. Rents are broken out by unit size, studio, 1BR, 2BR, 3BR, and 4BR for each of 29,501 zip codes over 50 states and Puerto Rico. Minimum wages needed to afford units are also displayed.

Our model proved useful to workers as well, so we made it available for free use on this website. Enjoy the calulator, and thank you for stopping by.

David Andrew Bardes, Executive Director
davidbardes@protonmail.com