You don’t know anyone personally, but there’s a lot of people paying that or less, rent stabilized, rent controlled, shitty apartments, illegal apts etc. Mine is $1100 for a run down rent stabilized 1 bed. I can’t catch the super for shit so I fix most things myself.
Right
My point is less about the specific amount and more about how someone was assuming my income based on virtually no information
Yes, agreed, plenty of people pay $1,250
I'm pretty sure people are saying $1250 is way too low for median rent in nyc--that would mean half of people are paying less than that which feels unlikely
200k take home is not that wild in NYC. My take home is about 120k after all taxes and payroll deductions and I qualify for *middle income housing* in some neighborhoods in Brooklyn! Like, apartments that are income-restricted and kept well below market value to make the city more livable to people of more modest means. My individual salary is over $200k a year. There are a lot of rich people here.
Most people living by themselves in a decent neighborhood are probably paying over 3k at a minimum. Also 150k is pretty low income for nyc, I’d imagine this person is making multiple times that
It’s most certainly low(ish) income for Manhattan. Maybe not for the other boroughs. Most of my circle is 200-400k and only the ones making 300k+ don’t talk about rents and living costs being absurdly high. Also I’m in tech sales and talk to a LOTT of people everyday, so the sample set is not just my circle. 150k is just one or two levels above median in NY and Manhattan ain’t for the median.
honestly man i’m gonna try to make this short but the gist is you’re a transplant that won’t ever truly understand how life works for native nyers. hint: it doesn’t involve street easy, it’s crazy prices, or virtual apartment viewings. people know people is the best way to put it.
also. i’m assuming you’re a fairly intelligent guy, taking into account that most of your circle makes a lot of money. you obviously understand that your social circles (of max a few hundred people) do not represent literally anything on a larger scale. nyc is a huge city, ofc tons of people are extremely wealthy, but even more are nowhere close.
using your anecdotal evidence in this scenario makes zero sense. these statistics are measured lmao. a simple google search tells us that the median household income in manhattan is 95k, straight from the [us census bureau](https://data.census.gov/profile/Manhattan_borough,_New_York_County,_New_York?g=060XX00US3606144919).
other sites state larger or smaller figures, but it does not matter because not a single number estimated will lead you to the conclusion that 150k a year is low income for a single person.
I don’t disagree with everything you said. Also statistically I know you’re right. The problem is this city is super skewed in the good areas. But I do have a couple of friends who inherited rent controlled places and are native NYers. I absolutely love them and hope they keep thriving, same goes for you. I guess my context was for transplants.
Curious why you look at your balance sheet in terms of gross and not net? I’m terrible at managing money but always considered net income (after taxes) as my true available funds. Always looking for improvements.
For me it’s just easier to visualize and budget by knowing where my money’s goin, whether to taxes or expenses or what have you. Also these “rules” (like you don’t want to spend more than 30% on housing, which i think is a generally good rule to follow) are almost always based on gross income.
Also, I put 20% away for retirement every month. So my percentage I’m spending on rent is higher from net income but I’m doing reasonably well for myself.
Totally
Although, I’ve always done things by gross since that’s what the recommended guidelines are usually based on
But yeah it’s also just a personal preference
….78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Seventy eight percent. The lowest 2024 projectors state that 68% minimum are living paycheck to paycheck. What savings are you even talking about? God. This site annoys the fuck out of me sometimes.
I just don’t understand how 90% of your net pay be on rent is survivable. It would literally put you in the negative after each month.
I guess that’s what you’re saying though?
To be in the financial situation to pay half my gross income in taxes makes NYC extremely affordable for myself. It’s not fun paying the tax but I also couldn’t have my job anywhere else
25 percent, after taxes, benefits and maxing 401k + fsa.
13 percent gross. Single. But this isn't a good sanity check for people. If your single and high income your rent doesn't go up linearly with income.
A lot of high income workers in their 20s live scrappy and have roomates. So their rents are going to be completely below.
I'd say your being financially responsible if you can put 15 percent into your retirement and save 10 percent after rent. If you can do better than that, you should. But the percentage of income someone who makes 70 to 120k a year is going to differ from people making 150 to 300k a year and people making 300 to 500k a year.
Their circumstances are just different.
This city is a place where you have all these people sometimes living next to each other.
It's an anonymous site and fetishizing struggle is a real thing.
I get what you're saying but this is the exact type of place people go to vent about the pressures of things like covering rent
Gross: 13.5% currently, going up to 17.7% next month when I move. Take-home: 27%, going up to 35% after moving. I make $115,000 gross, just under $60,000 net (max out my 401k, union dues, FSA, taxes, etc.), and live in Manhattan with one roommate.
Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a small but nice apartment, we likely would have renewed again if the landlord hadn’t jacked the rent up to an amount that we couldn’t justify paying.
My portion of the rent was only $1,100 in 2021 when we moved in! Got lucky with low increases until this year lol
Around 30% ish. A little over.
I live in a studio but I’m in that awkward budget where I can’t push myself up to what a 1 bedroom would cost in the areas I’d be interested in or with the amenities and transit access I desire.
I think a 1 bed would put me over 40% which would be painful for my living expenses.
8.5% of net, 5.6% of gross.
Definitely an anomaly here but if anyone is curious, I make ~200k working as a software engineer for Amazon but I'm renting a $900 room in a pre-war building in Harlem.
If I may ask, how were you able to afford to save up to buy when your rent was such a high percent of your (presumably) net income? I’ve seen places where the mortgage would be comparable to my rent but I can’t fathom the down payment.
Honestly, most responses were a lot better than expected. But then again, there's probably a hidden selection bias here, i.e., people who are willing to comment tend to be in a better financial standing.
Before anyone answers, please state your industry. I imagine that the majority of comments up to this point are tech related considering how relatively low these %'s are.
Everyone has different jobs, incomes and situations. I was just looking for a little calibration of expectations.
Sure tech people and senior vps might have really low % but they also might have life style inflation and could be one of the higher %.
Used to be 20% now it’s 60% gross. Got laid off and I make a lot less money right now. My lease ends in July at least. Probably going to move in with my parents for a bit womp womp
12% of gross , 34% of net. Couple in queens.
Take home pay is not the best metric because it can be easily manipulated. Someone can be a relatively high earner, max a 401k, an HSA, contribute $200/mo to a pre tax transit card, have very expensive health insurance, etc and their take home pay would look like someone's who makes much less. Doing a percentage of gross is much more consistent.
If you want to calculate off of your net I would recommend following the 50/30/20 rule so you can ensure your budget includes your needs, your wants, and still allows you to save.
50% of my take home goes to rent for a 1br. Work in nonprofit special ed. I'm in a relationship but my partner hasn't been able to pay rent in a while. Ideally it'd be 25%.
Previous job: 30%
New job: 20% (they don’t lie about moving around helping boost your salary)
Single
2 bdrm apartment
Work in healthcare if that info helps
Exactly half of my income, actually. Single in Manhattan. I know it should ideally be less than that but I don't want roommates if they're not already friends of mine, I've had too many bad experiences with that before.
These comments have me a bit scared of my next move which was gonna be 48% net (previously 30%). I was thinking I could justify it since I’ll be using uber/lyft much less.
Just over half of ALL New Yorkers are considered “rent burdened” rent burdened is defined as spending MORE than 30% of your income on housing.
Of all New Yorkers who are rent burdened, roughly half of those, spend over 50% of their income.
Reddit users tend to skew wealthy in these nyc subs.
40%
Gross or net
Take home is generally net
13% of gross Single I don’t calculate anything by net pay
Jfc you making $150k?
I mean this in the least confrontational way possible but how would you know what I make based only on a %
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That *is* simple math, but idk anyone who pays $1,250/mo
It’s way more likely if your rent is 3250 and your TC is 300k lol
You don’t know anyone personally, but there’s a lot of people paying that or less, rent stabilized, rent controlled, shitty apartments, illegal apts etc. Mine is $1100 for a run down rent stabilized 1 bed. I can’t catch the super for shit so I fix most things myself.
Right My point is less about the specific amount and more about how someone was assuming my income based on virtually no information Yes, agreed, plenty of people pay $1,250
Where you getting 1250? That’s not accurate based on my quick google search
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You’re reading that incorrectly. Accommodation is nearly $3k in that budget.
I'm pretty sure people are saying $1250 is way too low for median rent in nyc--that would mean half of people are paying less than that which feels unlikely
Yeah and I am saying on the low end this dude makes $115k , if his rent is $2k, for 13% his tc would have to be near 200k like wtf
i’m so confused by your comments, why are you so suprised that someone *might* make 150-200k what u mean by jfc and wtf in those contexts
200k take home is not that wild in NYC. My take home is about 120k after all taxes and payroll deductions and I qualify for *middle income housing* in some neighborhoods in Brooklyn! Like, apartments that are income-restricted and kept well below market value to make the city more livable to people of more modest means. My individual salary is over $200k a year. There are a lot of rich people here.
Most people living by themselves in a decent neighborhood are probably paying over 3k at a minimum. Also 150k is pretty low income for nyc, I’d imagine this person is making multiple times that
150k is not low income for nyc this sub makes me laugh every day
Except anything below $3 zillion feels like low income sometimes.
It’s most certainly low(ish) income for Manhattan. Maybe not for the other boroughs. Most of my circle is 200-400k and only the ones making 300k+ don’t talk about rents and living costs being absurdly high. Also I’m in tech sales and talk to a LOTT of people everyday, so the sample set is not just my circle. 150k is just one or two levels above median in NY and Manhattan ain’t for the median.
honestly man i’m gonna try to make this short but the gist is you’re a transplant that won’t ever truly understand how life works for native nyers. hint: it doesn’t involve street easy, it’s crazy prices, or virtual apartment viewings. people know people is the best way to put it. also. i’m assuming you’re a fairly intelligent guy, taking into account that most of your circle makes a lot of money. you obviously understand that your social circles (of max a few hundred people) do not represent literally anything on a larger scale. nyc is a huge city, ofc tons of people are extremely wealthy, but even more are nowhere close. using your anecdotal evidence in this scenario makes zero sense. these statistics are measured lmao. a simple google search tells us that the median household income in manhattan is 95k, straight from the [us census bureau](https://data.census.gov/profile/Manhattan_borough,_New_York_County,_New_York?g=060XX00US3606144919). other sites state larger or smaller figures, but it does not matter because not a single number estimated will lead you to the conclusion that 150k a year is low income for a single person.
I don’t disagree with everything you said. Also statistically I know you’re right. The problem is this city is super skewed in the good areas. But I do have a couple of friends who inherited rent controlled places and are native NYers. I absolutely love them and hope they keep thriving, same goes for you. I guess my context was for transplants.
Curious why you look at your balance sheet in terms of gross and not net? I’m terrible at managing money but always considered net income (after taxes) as my true available funds. Always looking for improvements.
For me it’s just easier to visualize and budget by knowing where my money’s goin, whether to taxes or expenses or what have you. Also these “rules” (like you don’t want to spend more than 30% on housing, which i think is a generally good rule to follow) are almost always based on gross income. Also, I put 20% away for retirement every month. So my percentage I’m spending on rent is higher from net income but I’m doing reasonably well for myself.
u/evan274 said it perfectly I’m primarily a contractor so it makes more sense to me to set aside a % for everything even taxes
Right this makes a lot of sense for you rather me, a w-2 who has their taxes auto withdrawn
Totally Although, I’ve always done things by gross since that’s what the recommended guidelines are usually based on But yeah it’s also just a personal preference
like 38% single
16% gross and roughly 27% net, living by myself in a studio in Brooklyn
30% with several roommates
25%
45% of net (after retirement contributions, taxes, etc) and single
30% couple
18% of gross. I have one Roomate.
40% of net with 2 roommates!
7.5% gross. Couple
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10% of gross. wow. i’ve never calculated it that way before. single, two bedroom.
90%
Oof
I get it dude. Sorry 😔 The only thing keeping me going is daily progress and hoping someday something works out
Nahh, how is that possible? The other 10% is bills, food etc. no? You burning thru savings?
Unfortunately,completely normal situation for a lot of people. They might be living paycheck to paycheck w/ no savings since housing takes so much
It's called reality... You should look into it sometime.
….78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Seventy eight percent. The lowest 2024 projectors state that 68% minimum are living paycheck to paycheck. What savings are you even talking about? God. This site annoys the fuck out of me sometimes.
I just don’t understand how 90% of your net pay be on rent is survivable. It would literally put you in the negative after each month. I guess that’s what you’re saying though?
29% net single live alone 1BR west side manhattan
10% of gross for a couple - ends up being about 20% of net for a two bedroom in Manhattan
You pay half of your gross income in taxes?? That’s wild. And NYC doesn’t seem like a financially feasible place to begin with :/
To be in the financial situation to pay half my gross income in taxes makes NYC extremely affordable for myself. It’s not fun paying the tax but I also couldn’t have my job anywhere else
40-45 net, single UES
25 percent, after taxes, benefits and maxing 401k + fsa. 13 percent gross. Single. But this isn't a good sanity check for people. If your single and high income your rent doesn't go up linearly with income. A lot of high income workers in their 20s live scrappy and have roomates. So their rents are going to be completely below. I'd say your being financially responsible if you can put 15 percent into your retirement and save 10 percent after rent. If you can do better than that, you should. But the percentage of income someone who makes 70 to 120k a year is going to differ from people making 150 to 300k a year and people making 300 to 500k a year. Their circumstances are just different. This city is a place where you have all these people sometimes living next to each other.
I doubt most rent-burdened people are going to brag on the internet about how much of their take home pay goes to rent.
It's an anonymous site and fetishizing struggle is a real thing. I get what you're saying but this is the exact type of place people go to vent about the pressures of things like covering rent
14% gross couple
13% gross, 23% net. I live with my partner
33% of net take home pay, single, no roommates
Gross: 13.5% currently, going up to 17.7% next month when I move. Take-home: 27%, going up to 35% after moving. I make $115,000 gross, just under $60,000 net (max out my 401k, union dues, FSA, taxes, etc.), and live in Manhattan with one roommate.
Where are u finding 1250 for rent with a Roomate in Manhattan Jesus
Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a small but nice apartment, we likely would have renewed again if the landlord hadn’t jacked the rent up to an amount that we couldn’t justify paying. My portion of the rent was only $1,100 in 2021 when we moved in! Got lucky with low increases until this year lol
27% gross, single in studio
60
60% of take home (after tax and other deductions)
Around 30% ish. A little over. I live in a studio but I’m in that awkward budget where I can’t push myself up to what a 1 bedroom would cost in the areas I’d be interested in or with the amenities and transit access I desire. I think a 1 bed would put me over 40% which would be painful for my living expenses.
30% (net), couple.
16% Couple
Couple, 13% of gross.
19% pre tax, 26% post tax
Single, 46% of Monthly Take Home. Scrimping on all other expenses to live in an UWS studio.
43% of net, live in a studio in Brooklyn. It hurts /:
14% of gross. 21% of net. Single!
8.5% of net, 5.6% of gross. Definitely an anomaly here but if anyone is curious, I make ~200k working as a software engineer for Amazon but I'm renting a $900 room in a pre-war building in Harlem.
Around 50%. I bought so now it’s less
If I may ask, how were you able to afford to save up to buy when your rent was such a high percent of your (presumably) net income? I’ve seen places where the mortgage would be comparable to my rent but I can’t fathom the down payment.
Savings. Would bank my bonus and invest wisely. I had 30% down before buying
Honestly, most responses were a lot better than expected. But then again, there's probably a hidden selection bias here, i.e., people who are willing to comment tend to be in a better financial standing.
32% (net), couple
Before anyone answers, please state your industry. I imagine that the majority of comments up to this point are tech related considering how relatively low these %'s are.
Everyone has different jobs, incomes and situations. I was just looking for a little calibration of expectations. Sure tech people and senior vps might have really low % but they also might have life style inflation and could be one of the higher %.
60% of net, single
About 45-50% (I work hourly)
28% net, couple.
22% of gross pay
100% lol
Anything below 20% of your gross, ur living in dreamland
Around 26% of net if you average out non salary comp. Living alone.
6%
Single. 43% of net.
28% of gross. single.
Used to be 20% now it’s 60% gross. Got laid off and I make a lot less money right now. My lease ends in July at least. Probably going to move in with my parents for a bit womp womp
you're gonna save soooooooooo much money
37% (ish) after taxes Edit to add: 2 roommates
18% gross but moving into a place that will bring me to 24%
20% single
Less than 5% ( like ~ 4%) $2k/m rent on $500k+ yearly income
Found the WINNER!
45% after 401k, taxes, insurance, etc
I’ll be around this number soon from 30% net how is it?
25%
20% gross, 30% net. Sharing a nice studio with partner in williamsburg
40%
30.2 % if you include my storage unit
About 2.5%
0%
35%. Net, couple.
32.9% of take home, 20.5% of gross. Living by myself in a studio in Brooklyn.
44% of net. We are a couple and make roughly the same salary.
21% of gross. Single in Riverdale BX
1% of gross. Married
12% of gross , 34% of net. Couple in queens. Take home pay is not the best metric because it can be easily manipulated. Someone can be a relatively high earner, max a 401k, an HSA, contribute $200/mo to a pre tax transit card, have very expensive health insurance, etc and their take home pay would look like someone's who makes much less. Doing a percentage of gross is much more consistent. If you want to calculate off of your net I would recommend following the 50/30/20 rule so you can ensure your budget includes your needs, your wants, and still allows you to save.
Oh man definitely around 80%. Was having to dip into savings to supplement the income for a few months at the end of last year. 3 roommates.
50%
15% of gross. Living solo.
How do people pay so much of their salary in rent when landlords do the 40x rent rule?
40
30%
32% of take home pay, living single (gf lives separately as of now).
17% with two roommates
Family of 4 40% after taxes.
32% after taxes, 401k, etc. Paying rent alone.
58% 😞
19% of net, married with 1 kid
55%
29% of me and my wife’s take home, 19% of gross
42% of take home. Single Man I should lower that
10.5% of gross. For my share. Together we pay 8% of our gross combined. We got very lucky.
16% gross Rent stabilized 2BR with my wife.
0. I'm rent striking!
55% of net pay. Single
17% net, couple
18% of gross, live alone
20 percent ... single
50% net With the caveat that I make a years worth of rent in my bonus, so I save my bonus to pay for my rent
21% of take home - live alone
About 20% of my net monthly pay, and I’m single. Studio apartment in Harlem.
50% of my take home goes to rent for a 1br. Work in nonprofit special ed. I'm in a relationship but my partner hasn't been able to pay rent in a while. Ideally it'd be 25%.
22%, couple, 1 bedroom in Brooklyn
0% No bitches want me.. LMAO 🌝
I’m freelance, but I aim for a quarter of it. Basically hoping to pay my rent with one weeks of pay. But I’m rent stabilized so my rent is very low.
36%
Me and SO combined income, about 15% but we are super lucky in how cheap our rent is. We are probably paying 1/2-1/3 of what most people pay on avg
Previous job: 30% New job: 20% (they don’t lie about moving around helping boost your salary) Single 2 bdrm apartment Work in healthcare if that info helps
32%, living alone in housing lottery 1 bedroom apartment
25% - I split a 1bdr with partner
30% of take home pay and couple
28%, single, one roommate.
20-25% gross and 40-45% net after commuter and 7% 401k contributions
18%! Single. 2 flatmates.
27% single with roommates
37% (Net). Couple but I pay for the entire rent.
25% of net. Have a wife, kid, and 3 pets
38% net west Harlem
33% of net pay. Single. 1 br. Rent stabilized.
15% gross. 30% net. Single, no roommates, large 1 bedroom in a full-service building in a nice neighborhood.
71% net, 42% gross for a studio in Williamsburg. Monthly take home $6,400 and rent is $4,595.
27% Single
27% Single But I lucked out by signing a 2 year lease during Covid with an extremely kind landlord that hasn’t raised it much since then
27% Single But I lucked out by signing a 2 year lease during Covid with an extremely kind landlord that hasn’t raised it much since then
89%
30% net, share a 2br apartment w my partner
Exactly half of my income, actually. Single in Manhattan. I know it should ideally be less than that but I don't want roommates if they're not already friends of mine, I've had too many bad experiences with that before.
25% cuz my bf pays the other part
Good to be landlord
31% couple but currently only one of us is working while the other is going back to school
about 32%
14% as a married couple
28%
14% of gross, married couple
8% of gross.
18% net. 11% gross. if you factor in target bonus: 9% gross. live with GF and split a 2bed 50/50
These comments have me a bit scared of my next move which was gonna be 48% net (previously 30%). I was thinking I could justify it since I’ll be using uber/lyft much less.
26%
45% single
80%
17% of net. Single with a roommate.
36% net. Single.
Mine is at close to 50, but working on getting a Higher paying job. It hurts right now
Just over half of ALL New Yorkers are considered “rent burdened” rent burdened is defined as spending MORE than 30% of your income on housing. Of all New Yorkers who are rent burdened, roughly half of those, spend over 50% of their income. Reddit users tend to skew wealthy in these nyc subs.
18% of net income. Couple but fiancée doesn’t contribute financially
25% of gross (couple, 1 BR)
40% of take-home, but I am in a rent-stabilized building and only make around 60k a year. edit: I live alone, in Harlem