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You know how you have that one friend on Facebook from high school who you haven’t talked to in seven years but you just can’t delete them because their sad posts about going out to the Chili’s in your hometown just makes you feel a little bit better? This post is like that friend. There’s something about other people having it rough that just makes you feel a little bit more at peace with the way your life is headed, so get ready for a little bit of an ego boost. You’re not the only one who’s broke AF these days – as it turns out, almost no one in the entire U.S. can afford their rent.
Results from a new study from Harvard are in, and if you make under $45,000 a year, you probably can’t afford your rent. In case you were wondering, the average American only makes around $27,000 a year, and 66% of all Americans earn under $42,000 a year. Essentially, we’re all pretty much fucked.
Many large cities are in the middle of a housing boom, making it a little harder on all of us to find a cheap place to live. Last year, only 10% of new rental units went for under $850, while over 1/3 of all new places went for over $1,650 a month. Ouch.
Even though rents are high (and still rising), the silver lining here is that a decline is inevitable. In the housing market, rising rents and an abundance of new apartments means that in a few years, the market will be oversaturated and rents will go back down, so you’ve just gotta ride out the wave. In the meantime, put out an ad on Craigslist for an extra roommate and just know that at least everyone else has it just as shitty as you do right now..
[via NBC News]
Image via Shutterstock
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Steph W.
Steph W. is a new Master's degree graduate with an intern's salary and six-figure taste. She realizes her expectations far exceed reality, so she spends her days pinning away Loubs she pretends are in her physical closet instead of her virtual one. Her hobbies include attempting to trapping her boyfriend into marriage before he finds out how insane she is and pretending that Black Box wine tastes as good as the kind she could afford when she was gainfully employed. Send her tips for getting out of student debt at recruitchairtsm@gmail.com
@therecruitchair
I definitely overpay for my shitty condominium, but it’s nice being able to talk with my neighbor through the paper thin walls.
Hey Peter man, check out channel nine. It is the breast exam
Hey man, we still going fishing this weekend?
I make more money than 2/3 of Americans and I still live with my parents. That’s just sad. At least Lisa still makes my lunch everyday.
You kinda sound like a sack of shit
Looks like you really took your username to heart.
Honestly though, natural trends aside, this really should be a national concern. With renting becoming the more favorable option, vacancy rates in the United States have hit around 4%, the lowest since 2001. Landlords saw this trend and still increased average rent price by 3.1%. I’m not saying people should be storming city hall, but this is definitely something that our generation should atleast pay attention to.
Maybe I’m not following correctly, but if vacancy is very low, why wouldn’t rates be raised? The demand is high which makes prices rise. If no one was renting, then you drop prices to incentivize more people to rent.
Oh I’m not saying it doesn’t make sense, I’m just saying that it’s not going to go away any time soon. Great for landlords, bad for the average American. Rent affordable to a household with one full time worker earning the U.S mean renter wage is $761. There’s literally just not enough affordable housing. I’m also speaking from a low-income household perspective so this could just be me going off on a tangent.
Looks like it’s time for us Midwesterners to gloat! I pay $600 for my 1 BR in a major city. Suck it, coastal cities.
“Major city.” In the Mid-West. Right.
Living the sweet life. $850 a month, 2 BR, hardwood floors, granite counter-tops and new appliances.
I bought a 4 bedroom house in September. I offered two of my friends 300 bucks a month to live with me all utilities, cable and Internet included. They declined because I live 10 miles from their current apartment downtown. They each probably pay 900+ a month and have three people in their 3/3. My house is closer to their work than their current apartment. I hope rent stays high so the next time I buy a house I can rent out my current one and make money.
Maybe don’t love as close to downtown as possible. Rent tends to go down the farther away you are
*live.
Fuck
Don’t love close to downtown either. Gets you nowhere.
A’int no love, in the heart of the city
That can’t be right…I currently work as a grad student in college making $1200 a month. I pay $450 in rent, $100 in utilities, $250 a month in groceries, $100 for insurance, $100 in gas. I have enough to go out with my girlfriend to dinner a few times a week and enough for weed. So, I disagree. Living is fairly easy if you work hard, save, and stick to a plan.
Do you typically think things “can’t be right” if they don’t pertain to your specific set of situations in your own individual life?
Pretty much and it’s worked out pretty damn well so far.
You make $1200 a month and have $1000 in the most basic of expenses. Doesn’t include the other random expenses you have every month from your car maintenance, taxes, apartment upkeep, utilities, etc. You aren’t saving any money like you say you are. You’re barely getting by.
Do you typically think that things “can’t be right” if they do not apply to your specific situation in your own individual life?
Fuck, double submission. The WORST
$450 in rent? A few questions:
Is that your share with roommates?
Are you still living in a college town?
Fellow grad student. We’re in a different world – nobody other than students and faulty wants to live in a small town in the middle of BFE, and landlords know how much students earn and receive through scholarships, loans, etc, so they’re forced to adjust their rent around those small incomes, which are usually about $5k-10k a semester.
Look at grad students in actual cities like Boston, LA, Chicago, etc – they’re all sharing houses and barely breaking even.
Your rent is $450? Do you live in the middle of nowhere South Dakota and go to Chilis with your girl which is the only example of something cultural for 3 zip codes?
Try living in DC or New York and pay rent instead of a college town
I just moved out to Reston and my rent is $1500 a month for a 1 bedroom. This whole area is so damn high. I mean I’m not even in the Town Center and it’s still out of this world.
$1500? In Reston? Jesus Christ. I could get a studio in the city for close to that rate. Wow.
Yeah the Reston/Fair Lakes area is pretty much all about that price now, at least the places I saw anyways. I am lucky that I have 920ish sqf, so it’s a little bit bigger, but I was surprised too.
Your rent is only $450…