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RentHop’s Singles Index has ranked Boston the fourth least affordable city for singles.
The online rental marketplace named New York City the least affordable and Wichita, Kan., the most affordable in the study, which it released Dec. 5.
Living in the city has its benefits such as an easier commute, extensive job opportunities and a more active social scene, but high rental prices can be a deterrent, especially for singles.
According to RentHop, Boston has one of the highest median non-family incomes: $75,252. Even with a substantial income, a majority of this money goes to rent. The findings of the Single’s Index indicated that single renters here would have to spend 37.47% of their income to pay for a studio apartment.
Here is how Boston stacks up compared with the rest of the nation:
RANK | CITY | Median Single’s Income | Median Studio Rent | Rent as % of Income |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New York | $55,810 | $3,308 | 71.1% |
2 | Miami | $48,826 | $1,986 | 48.8% |
3 | Detroit | $25,449 | $895 | 42.2% |
4 | Boston | $75,252 | $2,350 | 37.5% |
5 | Philadelphia | $41,080 | $1,264 | 36.9% |
6 | Los Angeles | $57,068 | $1,750 | 36.8% |
7 | Baltimore | $41,671 | $1,150 | 33.1% |
8 | Virginia Beach | $54,258 | $1,475 | 32.6% |
9 | Nashville | $52,507 | $1,425 | 32.6% |
10 | San Diego | $57,232 | $1,975 | 31.5% |
The findings also suggested that women in the United States have to spend more of their income on their rent compared with men. On average, a single woman spends 1.24 times more of their income on a studio apartment than men. RentHop used Pew Research Center’s data, which indicated that women earned 82 cents to a man’s dollar in 2022. This wage gap proves to be a burden for women trying to afford rent or housing prices on a single income.
Arlington, Texas, was the only city where single women less of their annual income on a studio apartment than men, RentHop reported.
Here’s how that gender gap plays out in Boston:
City | Median Single Male Income | Median Single Female Income | Rent Cost as % of Single Male Income | Rent Cost as % of Single Female Income |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boston | $80,114 | $66,383 | 35.2% | 42.5% |
To conduct the study, RentHop used census data to analyze housing affordability for single-income households across the 50 largest cities in the United States. To compare housing prices, RentHop created a list of all the studio apartments advertised on its website between January 1 and November 30.
The findings were divided into four categories to calculate the rankings.:
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