According To This New Data, Less Than 5% Of The Rent Prices In New York City Are Actually Affordable

TTstudio - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only
TTstudio - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only

Growing up on the East Coast, I wasn’t the only kid in my graduating class who had big dreams of one day living in New York City.

While many of us did end up working hard and being able to get to the city, a lot of people ended up changing their dreams and moving elsewhere once they realized just how expensive it was to live in New York.

It was around that time I realized that you have to be mindful of what’s important to you. If location and proximity to certain things are important, then you may be willing to work as hard as you can to afford to live in New York.

However, if more space and putting the bulk of your money toward other things besides rent is your priority, then living in New York may not be for you.

If you’re wondering just how bad rent prices have become in New York City, new data recently shared by StreetEasy proves just how challenging it is to live in the Big Apple.

A lot of people who start apartment hunting in NYC’s most popular boroughs, like Manhattan and Brooklyn, often complain about how there are hardly any apartments available.

While there are thousands of apartments physically in New York City, not all of them are in a reasonable price range.

The most shocking statistic from StreetEasy’s data was that New Yorkers earning average annual wages would only be able to afford less than 5% of the rental apartments on the market in 2023. Can you imagine just how little that is?

Many financial advisors suggest that we should only be putting 30% to 40% of their monthly income on rent in order to be able to put their money towards other expenses and their savings.

TTstudio – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only

However, because of the large rent prices in New York, the 2023 NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey estimated that one in four New Yorkers spent more than half of their combined income on their rent.

Therefore, if you choose to live in New York and make an average amount of money, you should be prepared to put most of your hard-earned money towards rent.

Again, some people find living in New York worth it, as it is an epicenter of culture and gives people the opportunity to work all different kinds of jobs.

Plus, the cost of rent has gotten higher in most places, so if you love New York so much, it may be worth it to work hard and stay there.

However, if there’s anywhere else you’d love to live in, you may want to do some research and see if it would be a better fit for you.

If you’ve ever lived in New York, what was the most you had to spend on rent?

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