{"id":766,"date":"2022-12-12T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/content-manager\/?post_type=studies&p=16657"},"modified":"2022-12-12T15:48:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T15:48:04","slug":"renthop-singles-index-2022-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/research\/renthop-singles-index-2022-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"RentHop Singles Index: 2022 Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
With housing prices skyrocketing over the past year, 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?<\/p>\n
To investigate this trend, we at RentHop explored housing affordability for non-family households across the 50 largest cities in the country. Our second annual RentHop Singles Index<\/em> looks at the cost of rent for a studio apartment in each city, how these rents have changed over the past year, and whether living alone is affordable<\/a> given average local incomes.<\/p>\n 1. New York, NY<\/a> is the least affordable city in America for singles. After placing second last year, NYC experienced a meteoric rise in rent prices in 2022 which led to it overtaking Miami for our top spot. Median rent for a studio apartment increased 23.1% in the year to a staggering $3,016. Singles in this city will have to spend 43.86% of their income on rent.<\/p>\n 2. Miami, FL<\/a> remains unaffordable for singles, despite dropping to second place on our list. Given the median non-family income of $66,871, and $2,070 for a studio, a single person would need to spend 37.15% of their annual income on rent alone.<\/p>\n 3. New Orleans, LA<\/a> remains in third place for the second consecutive year, as rent prices for a studio increased over 10%. An average single person living alone can expect to allocate 30.65% of their annual salary towards rent costs.<\/p>\n 4. Raleigh, NC<\/a> is the fourth least affordable city for singles, with rent commanding almost 30% of the average single person\u2019s annual income. There was one bright spot, however. As compared to other growing cities, studio apartments in Raleigh only saw a modest 3.5% annual increase in price.<\/p>\n 5. Despite a high median singles salary of $100K, expensive rent prices in Boston, MA<\/a> continue to make things difficult. A studio in the city is now up to $2,400 per month, leading to a rent burden of 28.68% of income annually.<\/p>\n 1. Albuquerque, NM<\/a> is the most affordable city in the country for singles. Cheap housing, combined with strong incomes, means that the average single person would only need to spend 15.33% of their income to live alone. The median rent for a studio is just $700 per month, flat year over year.<\/p>\n 2. Despite a sharp 19% increase in studio rent over the year, Wichita, KS<\/a> remains cheap compared with cities across the country at a median of $595 per month. A single person can expect to pay a reasonable 16.04% of their annual income toward housing costs.<\/p>\n 3. Minneapolis, MN<\/a> jumped three spots from last year\u2019s ranking, taking third place. Minneapolis has a favorable combination of high incomes at a median of $72,359, as well as affordable housing at $990 for a studio.<\/p>\nLeast Affordable Cities for Singles<\/h2>\n
Most Affordable Cities for Singles<\/h2>\n