Most of Costa Mesa is in Orange County, where a full-time job needs to pay at least $100.59 an hour before taxes to take home four times the typical studio rent.
Across the 3 ZIP codes in Costa Mesa with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $2,580 to $2,900 a month. At the middle rent, $2,600, a full-time job would need to pay $98.25 an hour before taxes.
What the standard would be at each ZIP code's own studio rent. The calculator and the official standard use the county figure.
| ZIP | County | Studio rent | Pay needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 92626 | Orange County | $2,900/mo | $110.06/hr |
| 92627 | Orange County | $2,600/mo | $98.25/hr |
| 92628 | Orange County | $2,580/mo | $97.47/hr |
Under the Four Times Rent standard, a full-time job in Costa Mesa needs to pay at least $100.59 an hour before taxes, about $209,233 a year. That is the figure for Orange County, where the typical studio rent is $2,660 a month.
Yes. Across the 3 ZIP codes in Costa Mesa with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $2,580 to $2,900 a month. At the middle rent of $2,600, the pay needed would be $98.25 an hour.
The minimum wage in Orange County is $16.90 an hour. The Four Times Rent standard there is 6.0 times that.
The Four Times Rent standard: a month of full-time work (160 hours) should take home at least four times the typical rent on a studio apartment in the county where the work is done. Rents: HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents. Taxes: 2026 federal and state income taxes plus Social Security and Medicare, for a single filer. Why four times rent? · Method and data downloads