Why is it so expensive to be lonely in New York?

With house prices skyrocketing across the country, many immigrants now face high rental prices as the sole breadwinner or single. But are some cities more accessible to singles than others? And why is loneliness expensive in New York? Tells about all this Renthop.

To investigate this trend, RentHop studied the affordability of housing for single people in the country's 50 most populous cities. This index for single people considers the cost rental studio apartments in every city. And also how this rent has changed over the past year and how affordable living alone compares to the average income of the local population. Here are the results:

Least accessible cities for singles

1. Miami, Florida is the most expensive city in the country for singles. Unless you're a wealthy immigrant looking to soak up the palm trees and the sun. Despite the high income per worker of $ 57, the average person will have to spend more than 997% of their monthly gross income to live alone. Studio prices have risen steadily over the past year - more than 37%.
2. New York, NY, is the second "overwhelming" city for singles. The rent is 37% of the average gross income of a single person. To complicate matters further, the prices that rose 8,89% year on year. Given that many immigrants are considering moving to New York, it would be appropriate to rent an apartment with friends or acquaintances. Sometimes you have to rent an apartment with strangers. The most “not hospitable” in this case is New York.
3. New Orleans, Louisiana is another unsurprisingly expensive city for singles as local incomes have yet to hit rents. At an average studio rent of $ 1269, a single person in New Orleans will spend 32,82% of their gross income on housing.
4. Singles or single immigrants in Raleigh, North Carolina can face high house prices in relation to income. At the same time, the rent for a studio is 31,86% of the gross income for the average worker.
5. Boston, Massachusetts rounds out our list of the most expensive places to see house prices skyrocketing this year. The average studio cost is now $ 2250 per month, up 21% over the year.

The most affordable cities for singles

Spoiler alert: New York is not on this list, at least you won't see it in the first five positions.

1. Wichita, Kansas is the most accessible city for singles in America. Here, they benefit from the combination of low rental prices and high incomes. A single person in Wichita with an average income would have to spend only 13,63% of their income on housing in order to live alone.
2. Low studio prices in Columbus, Ohio (averaging $ 625) contributed to its well-being, as well as the city's high income for single-income families.
3. Albuquerque, New Mexico is the third cheapest city for singles. Here, single people only need to spend 17,14% of their income on rental housing. The city has indeed become more expensive in a year: prices have increased by 12% compared to the same period in 2020.
4. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is another cheap city for single people. Rent for a studio will cost $ 723. And the average income is just over 50 thousand dollars for single people.
5. Tulsa, Oklahoma City, ranks fifth on our list of most affordable cities for cheap housing prices. Studio rent is $ 695 a month, compared to a relatively high $ 47 annual income for singles.

Improving living conditions for singles in 2021

While rental prices have jumped significantly above the lows seen during the pandemic, studio rentals have dropped in several cities from last year. Omaha was the most notable falling just under 9% over the same period in 2020. Seven out of 50 cities experienced a decline, and three did not change.

Rental price as% of income (change year over year for studio)

1. Omaha, NE: - -8,88%
   2. Louisville, Kentucky - -3,88%
   3. Detroit, Michigan - -2,76%
   4. El Paso, Texas - -2,55%
   5. New Orleans, Louisiana - -2,38%
   6. Kansas City, Missouri - -0,50%
   7. San Jose, California - -0,43%
   8. Wichita, Kansas -
   Even9. Virginia Beach, Virginia -
   Even 10. Long Beach, California, unchanged

Where living conditions for bachelors worsened in 2021

In the vast majority of cities included in our index, prices for studio apartments have increased over the past year. Boston has the highest rates. Here, the average rental growth was 21,62% compared to the same period in 2020. San Antonio, Denver and Phoenix closely follow. In these cities, prices have risen more than 20% year on year.

Rental price as% of income (change year over year for studio)

1. Boston, Massachusetts - + 21,62%
   2. San Antonio, Texas - + 20,97%
   3. Denver, Colorado - + 20,35%
   4. Phoenix, Arizona - + 20,13%
   5. Tucson, Arizona - + 17,65%
   6. Baltimore, Maryland - + 16,28%
   7. Seattle, Washington - + 16,25%
   8. Washington, DC - + 15,18%
   9. Charlotte, North Carolina - + 15,17%
   10. Fresno, California - + 15,15%

The RentHop Singles Index analyzes proprietary census data and ACS data to gain insight into housing affordability for single-income families in the country's 50 most populous cities. To collect data on house prices, we pulled out all the ads for a one-room apartment advertised on RentHop in 2020, and in 2021 - about 1,2 million. In theory, one person can rent more space, but we chose this type of housing to represent the minimum space in which one can live alone.

The following statistics were used to calculate the index:

1) Average income of a single person according to the US Census

2) Median studio prices advertised according to RentHop.

3) Annual price changes for studio apartments based on RentHop data.