NYC Apartment Rents

Hello Fellow Monkeys, 

There have been several threads on what is the appropriate amount of income to pay on rent while working in finance in NYC.

I have found that the vast majority of comments seem to significantly underestimate how much it costs to get a decent place in manhattan post-COVID. 

According to RentHop the average rents in manhattan are: 

Studio: $3,550 

1 Bedroom: $4,395 

2 Bedroom: $5,650 

3 Bedroom: $6,995 

Several of these places charging only slightly below the average rent have serious issues (no living room, 4th floor walk up, very far from subway stations, etc.) and to pay for items that are much more commonly found in other cities (modern building, doorman, etc.) put places above the averages. 

Most people I see on this forum say even if you are making 200k-300K all-in you should try to pay between $1,500 - $2,500 per month in rent to be a good saver. To me, this doesn’t really add up.

I have never seen a deal for under 2k per person unless you are in 3 bedroom with some vary ghastly trade-offs, and in my view, if you are working in finance 80 hours a week and making good money, it would be really hard to put up with that. Especially now that WFH is a thing and people work during the weekends from their apartment, wouldn’t someone want a little more space and a slightly nicer place? 

Additionally, what if you want to live alone? It seems like paying average rents for a reasonable studio or 1 bedroom in NYC is way above general guidance However, clearly several people are doing it because that’s the average rent! 

I get out of college as an analyst you can bunk with a few roommates to save money, but once you are a few years out (26-30), are people really still in the same situation? Don’t get me wrong, I do save a lot of money, but I can’t seem to figure out a way to have a reasonable standard of living in NYC without paying a pretty penny in rent. Should I just get a SO and move in together, is that what most people are doing? Or are people actually just sucking up these sky-high rents and saving significantly less?

I know that people in finance have a warped reality of COL and living standards in this city, but to me, it seems like even if you are making 200k-300k a year, it doesn’t really afford you in my view a relatively reasonable home to live in and still save good money. 

Very interested to hear people’s thoughts on this!