Most of Cary is in Wake County, where a full-time job needs to pay at least $50.69 an hour before taxes to take home four times the typical studio rent.
Across the 5 ZIP codes in Cary with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $1,420 to $1,880 a month. At the middle rent, $1,590, a full-time job would need to pay $52.57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27511 | Wake County | $1,420/mo | $46.17/hr |
| 27512 | Wake County | $1,530/mo | $50.31/hr |
| 27513 | Wake County | $1,620/mo | $53.70/hr |
| 27518 | Wake County | $1,590/mo | $52.57/hr |
| 27519 | Wake County | $1,880/mo | $63.50/hr |
Under the Four Times Rent standard, a full-time job in Cary needs to pay at least $50.69 an hour before taxes, about $105,429 a year. That is the figure for Wake County, where the typical studio rent is $1,540 a month.
Yes. Across the 5 ZIP codes in Cary with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $1,420 to $1,880 a month. At the middle rent of $1,590, the pay needed would be $52.57 an hour.
The minimum wage in Wake County is $7.25 an hour. The Four Times Rent standard there is 7.0 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