Most of Chapel Hill is in Orange County, where a full-time job needs to pay at least $49.18 an hour before taxes to take home four times the typical studio rent.
Across the 5 ZIP codes in Chapel Hill with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $1,500 to $1,700 a month. At the middle rent, $1,510, a full-time job would need to pay $49.56 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27514 | Orange County | $1,700/mo | $56.71/hr |
| 27515 | Orange County | $1,510/mo | $49.56/hr |
| 27516 | Orange County | $1,500/mo | $49.18/hr |
| 27517 | Orange County | $1,620/mo | $53.70/hr |
| 27599 | Orange County | $1,510/mo | $49.56/hr |
Under the Four Times Rent standard, a full-time job in Chapel Hill needs to pay at least $49.18 an hour before taxes, about $102,295 a year. That is the figure for Orange County, where the typical studio rent is $1,500 a month.
Yes. Across the 5 ZIP codes in Chapel Hill with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $1,500 to $1,700 a month. At the middle rent of $1,510, the pay needed would be $49.56 an hour.
The minimum wage in Orange County is $7.25 an hour. The Four Times Rent standard there is 6.8 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