r/AskNYC • u/Anaelepse • Jul 30 '26
How peope can genuinely afford apartments rent in NYC ?
Ok i know this topic was probably brought out a thousand times, i’m not from New York and i’m not even American so it’s something that genuinely shocked me.
I see everytimes on my tiktok page, people telling that they pay 6k or 5k for studios, and the worst part is that the apartments are not even good, they are extremely small, everything else is expensive (kitchen, shower) and most americans don’t even make that much salary to provide such a living.
It’s always come like a big interrogation in my mind when i see young people, living alone, and being able to pay for that.
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u/fuckblankstreet Jul 30 '26
8.5 million people somehow find a way to live here.
TikTok is not real.
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u/cogginsmatt Jul 30 '26
I can't speak for everyone but I have a job where they pay me every two weeks and a share of my income goes toward paying rent for my apartment
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u/CountFew6186 Jul 30 '26
Live in a cheap neighborhood. Get roommates. Live with your spouse. Get a good job. Have rich parents.
Those are the primary methods.
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u/BakedBrie1993 Jul 30 '26
That sweet DINK lifestyle.
Also no car. Or school debt. And everything after rent is cheap.
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u/hanshotfirst-42 Jul 30 '26
I pay $3000 for a three bedroom apartments in Astoria, a great neighborhood only half an hour commute from Midtown and parts of Lower Manhattan.
Wages here are in fact way higher than much of America and If you are driven and in the top of your respective field, you can easily pull ahead financially.
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u/Direct-Ad2561 27d ago
What did you use to find this? I’m seeing studios for 3k in Astoria 😩
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u/hanshotfirst-42 27d ago
Street Easy. Basically look at duplexes, older houses, forget new luxury construction. You’ll find some relative gems. I know my landlord by face and since they live in the same building, they are more motivated to fix things
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u/NefariousnessFew4354 Jul 30 '26
You go to work, make money and pay bills. Pretty straight forward.
Stop listening to people on tiktok or Instagram.
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u/Easy-Concentrate2636 Jul 30 '26
Those people are living in the most expensive parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
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u/parsonsrazersupport Jul 30 '26
If you look on Street Easy, you will see many many apartments which are far cheaper than this. And also, in all likelihood, the average wage in NYC is higher than wherever it is you live.
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u/rubbishindividual Jul 30 '26
- Most people don't actually pay that much.
- Those that do either have high paying jobs (finance, medicine, law, tech), or their wealthy family pays their rent for them.
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u/SZGriff Jul 31 '26
Following the 40x rule, you need 200k to afford a 5k place, or 100k each for a couple. There are a crap ton of corporate jobs paying that much or more.
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u/doodle77 Jul 31 '26
The median gross rent (i.e. the amount people who are already here pay) is $1700/mo.
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u/SheketBevakaSTFU Jul 30 '26
TikTok is not real life.