A system, method, and apparatus for establishing headroom for a mobile station operating in a wireless communication system by determining (230) a communication channel variance condition and establishing (245) a headroom value based on the communication channel variance condition. The headroom value may be further revised by determining (260) if a battery condition in a mobile station relates to a low battery level and increasing (265) the headroom value in order to decrease the maximum data rate. Modifications to headroom allow data rates to be tailored to specific channel variance conditions and battery conditions.