Do You Make Enough to Live Where You Work?

That “if” is already a “when” in many metropolitan areas, according to data in the Center for Housing Policy’s Paycheck to Paycheck database. In San Francisco, for instance, the cost of a two-bedroom apartment (about $1,795 a month) already exceeds what urban planners and other professionals can pay. If you’re a housekeeper, a bank teller, or a groundskeeper, forget about even a one-bedroom apartment in the metro area.

“This ultimately means that people needed to work in downtown restaurants and hospitals, or well-to-do neighborhoods, often must live at the far reaches of a metro area,” Emily Badger writes. “Or it means they’re spending way more on their housing than a family budget can really afford.”