Make Less Than $100,000? Living Solo in NYC Is Getting Harder

(Bloomberg) -- Living alone in New York City is getting tougher for those earning less than six figures, even in some areas that were previously seen as affordable.

Solo renters in some popular Brooklyn neighborhoods -- Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene and Cobble Hill -- now require a yearly salary of at least $100,000, but didn’t five years ago, according to a study by StreetEasy. Manhattan’s Lower East Side also entered the six-figure club.

StreetEasy looked at neighborhoods with at least 250 rentals available in 2019 and determined the salaries needed to afford a median one-bedroom or studio apartment, assuming no more than 40% of income is spent on rent. Manhattanites living alone would need a gross income of $115,800 -- more than twice the city median of $57,782, StreetEasy said.

Interactive Map: Find Out Where Buying Is a Better Bet Than Renting

Some of the city’s most-affordable neighborhoods required the biggest salary raises over the past five years. Renters in Brooklyn’s East Flatbush section now need to earn $68,000 to live alone, 33% more than in 2014. The requirement for Central Harlem is $82,000, up 21% and the biggest jump in Manhattan for the period.

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