Complaining about high rents is one of New Yorkers’ favorite pastimes, but if you think a cross-country move will ease the pressure on your pocketbook, you can think again.
New York City actually ranks sixth in rent costs nationwide, behind San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego, says the Village Voice, quoting a report by the Citizens Budget Commission, a government watchdog group.
According to the report, the median rent in NYC in 2012 (the most recent year for which data was available) was $1,196 a month compared with $1,512 in San Francisco, $1,466 in San Jose and $1,298 in San Diego. And you don’t have to live on the west coast to fall prey to higher rents. Washington, D.C. and Boston were also more expensive than Gotham.
"New Yorkers are sometimes a little parochial," says Charles Bresher, the consulting research director for the CBC, "and don't always think about what's going on elsewhere in the country." Point taken.
Of course, that doesn’t mean New Yorkers aren’t feeling the pinch of expensive housing. On average, New Yorkers spent 51 percent of their income on rent in 2012. But, compare that to Los Angeles and Miami, where residents spent 59 and 62 percent of their income, respectively, on housing, and we’re looking pretty good.
All this is to say, the next time you find yourself grumbling about your place, imagine forking over almost two thirds of your paycheck to your landlord and living in ... Miami. You’ll find yourself feeling that much better, we hope.
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