With housing prices dramatically rising across the country, and Americans increasingly choosing to get married later in life, many young professionals are now faced with high rent prices as a single income earner. But are certain cities more affordable than others for singles<\/a>?<\/p>\n
1. Miami, FL<\/a> is the most expensive city in the country for singles. Despite a strong single-earner income of $57,997, an average person would need to spend over 37% of their gross monthly income to live alone. Prices for a studio have also steadily increased over the past year, up over 9%.<\/p>\n
2. New York, NY<\/a> is the second most expensive city for singles, with rent commanding 37% of the average single person\u2019s gross income. To make matters more difficult, prices are also up 8.89% year over year.<\/p>\n
3. New Orleans, LA<\/a> is another unsurprisingly expensive singles city, as local incomes have yet to catch up with rent prices. Given median rent of $1,269 for a studio, a single person looking to live alone in New Orleans would need to spend 32.82% of their gross income on housing.<\/p>\n
4. Singles in Raleigh, NC<\/a> can expect steep housing prices relative to income, with rent for a studio apartment representing 31.86% of gross income for the average earner.<\/p>\n
5. Boston, MA<\/a> rounds out our most expensive list, with prices for housing skyrocketing so far this year. The median studio apartment now costs $2,250 per month, which is up over 21% in the year.<\/p>\n
1. Wichita, KS<\/a> is the most affordable city for singles in America, with a favorable mix of cheap rent prices and strong single-earner incomes. A single person in Wichita making an average income would only need to spend 13.63% of their income on housing in order to live alone.<\/p>\n
2. Cheap studio prices in Columbus, OH<\/a>, at a median of $625, helped its favorable ranking, as well as the city\u2019s high income for single earner households.<\/p>\n
3. Albuquerque, NM<\/a> is the third cheapest city for singles, with single-earners only needing to spend 17.14% of their income in order to live alone. The city did become more expensive in the year, with prices up 12% compared to the same period in 2020.<\/p>\n
4. Oklahoma City, OK<\/a> is another cheap city for single earners, with studio apartments at a low $723 rent, and average income of just over $50k for a non-family household.<\/p>\n
5. Tulsa, OK<\/a> takes fifth place on our most affordable list, driven by cheap housing prices at $695 per month, compared to a relatively high singles annual income of $47,342.<\/p>\n
While rent prices have bounced back significantly from lows seen during the pandemic, a handful of cities have seen studio apartments fall back relative to last year. Omaha was most notable, dropping just under 9% compared to this time in 2020. Seven cities out of the 50 we tracked saw drops, while three remained even on the year.<\/p>\n
1. Omaha, NE: -8.88%
\n2. Louisville, KY \u2014 -3.88%
\n3. Detroit, MI \u2014 -2.76%
\n4. El Paso, TX \u2014 -2.55%
\n5. New Orleans, LA \u2014 -2.38%
\n6. Kansas City, MO \u2014 -0.50%
\n7. San Jose, CA \u2014 -0.43%
\n8. Wichita, KS \u2014 Even
\n9. Virginia Beach, VA \u2014 Even
\n10. Long Beach, CA \u2014 Even<\/p>\n
The vast majority of cities in our Singles Index saw price increases over the past year for studio apartments. The highest of which was Boston, which saw a whopping 21.62% median rent increase compared to the same time in 2020. Close behind were San Antonio, Denver, and Phoenix, which all boomed over 20% year over year.<\/p>\n
1. Boston, MA \u2014 +21.62%
\n2. San Antonio, TX \u2014 +20.97%
\n3. Denver, CO \u2014 +20.35%
\n4. Phoenix, AZ \u2014 +20.13%
\n5. Tucson, AZ \u2014 +17.65%
\n6. Baltimore, MD \u2014 +16.28%
\n7. Seattle, WA \u2014 +16.25%
\n8. Washington, DC \u2014 +15.18%
\n9. Charlotte, NC \u2014 +15.17%
\n10. Fresno, CA \u2014 +15.15%<\/p>\n