Poll: BHs who rent - what % of gross do you spend on rent?

[2m2037]

What % of gross income (combined) do you pay for rent? Just curious. 10%? 15%? 20%?

[AG2013]

6% We live in a LCOL area and are focused on paying off student loans and maxing tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

[ppdandekar]

11%. Trying to save for a house

[junior]

20%. I am single and live with an unemployed relative who doesn't pay rent.

[Snowjob]

This is a function of cost of living in the area and salary. I'm in a higher cost of living area (not SF, NYC but certainly higher than most parts of the country) I'm about 15%

[Rob5TCP]

I2345

[masteraleph]

Roughly 22-23%. NYC, outer boroughs.

[snm85]

7.5% in HCOL area

[kmurp]

I don’t rent but one of my daughters pays 50% of her take home in rent (HCOL).

[muddgirl]

11% - two incomes, no kids, renting a 3 BR 1.5 BA rowhouse in a rust belt city.

Anecdotally we are paying lower than average rent for our area because we live in a home that has not had significant upgrades since the 1950s. That means no dishwasher and no central air. If we lived in an upgraded multifamily home in our area, we'd be paying closer to 15%.

[Bradley37]

11% - but I help out with babysitting for 2-3 days/week for their 4 year old boy who is my nephew. I rent a room in my sister's house and I have a dog too.

[financeidiot]

15 - 25% in Washington, DC. Used to be higher until I increased income and added a roommate. Getting rent lower becomes a cost and time tradeoff with transportation.

[bungalow10]

Really timely question for me!

We rent in Europe right now - 17%

We are considering renting in the US - 18.5% est

high COL, family of five, single income

cheers

[Sandtrap]

In Hawaii, especially Oahu, Honolulu, it is common for folks to pay up to or more than 50% of their gross income for rent. (been there many times).
A 600 square feet concrete walk-up apartment with 1 tiny uncovered parking stall, basic habitable box, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, may rent from $1500 and up up up.
And locations at these prices are not ideal. (bar and pawn shop next door, typically)

Actionably:
Where income is marginal, moving from UHCOL places like Hawaii to ULCOL in retirement is "textbook" Boglehead.

j

[sailaway]

In Hawaii, especially Oahu, Honolulu, it is common for folks to pay up to or more than 50% of their gross income for rent. (been there many times).
A 600 square feet concrete walk-up apartment with 1 tiny uncovered parking stall, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, may rent from $1500 and up up up.

Actionably:
Where income is marginal, moving from UHCOL places like Hawaii to ULCOL in retirement is "textbook" Boglehead.

j

That would be $2000 here in San Diego.

[Sandtrap]

In Hawaii, especially Oahu, Honolulu, it is common for folks to pay up to or more than 50% of their gross income for rent. (been there many times).
A 600 square feet concrete walk-up apartment with 1 tiny uncovered parking stall, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, may rent from $1500 and up up up.
And locations at these prices are not ideal. (bar and pawn shop next door, typically)

Actionably:
Where income is marginal, moving from UHCOL places like Hawaii to ULCOL in retirement is "textbook" Boglehead.

j

That would be $2000 here in San Diego.

Yes. Another HCOL.
I edited my post to detail location.
San Diego. Nice.
j

[mcraepat9]

~10% in HCOL (NYC).

[Jayhawk11]

8% in HCOL (my wife makes a ton of money making the percentage look decent).

[DVMResident]

2017: 19%, single income, family of 3, SoCal. It's a steal at 19%.
2018: 14% (projected), dual income, same place.

In Hawaii, especially Oahu, Honolulu, it is common for folks to pay up to or more than 50% of their gross income for rent. (been there many times).
A 600 square feet concrete walk-up apartment with 1 tiny uncovered parking stall, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, may rent from $1500 and up up up.

Actionably:
Where income is marginal, moving from UHCOL places like Hawaii to ULCOL in retirement is "textbook" Boglehead.

j

That would be $2000 here in San Diego.

All of coastal CA from San Diego to the bay area is like this. Want cheaper? That'll be 1.5+ hour commute!

[luminous]

2011: 24%
2018: 18%

Same apartment, same rent (thanks to rent control), increased income. Family of four, one income, HCOL area.

[themesrob]

7.5% in NYC, dual income

[MI_bogle]

Before buying our house we were paying 12% in rent.

We now pay the same in PITI, but for more than double the square footage

[mervinj7]

18% in the San Francisco Bay Area and that's with dual incomes.

[runner540]

12% of salaries only. <10% of income including bonuses.

That is comfortable for us. At the beginning of my career it was more like 25% and that felt tight.

[N10sive]

If I only count rent and not the costs of paying for parking/other fees. I am single, live alone, and in a HCOL-VHCOL area. I plan to move when my lease is up in 6 months to a place and have the cost but will only reduce my percent for the year around 2.

2017 - 17% (Including Other Fees, 20.5%)
2018 - 15% (18.5%)

[DrGoogle2017]

My daughter rent in the Bay Area, HCOL, but not the city, she’s paying less than 15%, it could be lower if you count the whole compensation package. She was adamant about keeping that limit with her roommate, fortunately they did find a nice apartment.

Another daughter rent in nice area of SoCal near LA, I think she pays about 20-25%.

They both have roommates.

[HRPennypacker]

Just under 10% in HCOL (South Bay Area, CA)
Wasn't trying to save for a house--I have enough for a down payment--but now I'm reconsidering. #BayAreaLife

[lightheir]

When I was renting, I spent 40% of my gross on rent in LA. It wasn't unusual down there. It always depressed me to hear how many BHers said <25%.

I'm making more money now, but I still spend nearly the same amount on mortgage!

And despite what all the naysayers say, everything has worked out fine, including retirement savings and homeownership. So just because you're not doing the 'recommended' <33% guideline doesn't mean you'll break the bank.

And don't feel too badly when comparing yourselves to BHers, which tend to be a self-selected bunch (on top of the self-bias confirmation of the people who post here - few folks who actually feel they spend too much on rent will voluntarily post about it.)

[katzmandu]

22% NYC outer borough

[blueman457]

Currently 5.5% - recently moved to a slightly lower cost of living, which higher paycheck.
Previously 12% - 20% (VHCOL, Manhattan)

Blue Man

[Wings5]

12% in DFW

[Agggm]

What % of gross income (combined) do you pay for rent? Just curious. 10%? 15%? 20%?

8% of gross in northern NJ

[badger42]

We rent in a crazily VHCOL area.

23% of base, 13% of base + bonus + stock

[Rainmaker41]

19.4% of gross household income in a high cost of living city. (includes heating & water)

We (couple) rent a comparatively cheap studio in a building whose price is about 78% of the average for the city.

Our income is slightly above the city's median household income, but we have no kids.

In other words, our household cost of living is well below what is 'expected' for our income. Our savings rate is accordingly above what is 'expected'. It's a lifestyle choice we hope will allow us to be set for later on.

[RPU_Milo]

6% - Allowing us plenty of options and opportunities.

[inittowinit]

10.5%

I'm in a VHCOL area but have lucked into cheap housing.

[mlipps]

18% in Chicago with a 20 minute commute to downtown

[MadDash335]

Curious about thoughts here, actually! So sort of a sub topic.

Right now: 9.5% of gross on rent in a great area and apartment in a HCOL in the best part of Boston.

What started as about 15+% of gross income has turned to a much lower percentage due to substantial raises over the past 3-4 years. When we get married, our needs will change so we are beginning to at least peak at the market. For now renting makes sense but we may try to buy in the next 5-10 years, depending on the opportunity. We save a lot (35%-50%) of our income and are comfortable on the lower end of that and we will be prepared to buy regardless if/when that time comes.

I feel a bit of guilty looking at apartments that would raise our rent to 15-20% of our gross income and I'm wrestling with whether that is silly or not. Of course, consumer research is my specialty and if it was a substantial bump, the apartment would have to knock our socks off.

[neuro84]

Well, I may as well set an upper bound for this thread. We spend 27.4% of our gross income in rent, in a low-medium COL city (Atlanta). One income (medical resident), DW is a graduate student (school fees/grad stipend are basically a wash), 2 kids, 3br/1ba in a nice in-town neighborhood.

In 18 months what we currently pay for rent will be about 7% of my post-residency gross income. At which point we will start aggressively saving to buy a house.

[BogleMelon]

14%
But that is not normal in my area. A special kind of program

[PhysicsTeacher]

Just under 10% of gross gets our DINK household a spacious two bedroom townhouse in Arkansas.

[randomguy]

What % of gross income (combined) do you pay for rent? Just curious. 10%? 15%? 20%?

~5% in a HCOL area. But all that is saying is I have a high income. If I was making 75% less, I would still be living in the same spot.

In the end this is a useless number. Some areas are low rent and others are high. Some people are high income (i.e. when your making 800k/year, 10% is a lot of money. Making 40k/year, not so much. The dual incomes is a good way to skew income up),

[randomizer]

Just under 5%, HCOL. Taxes are a much bigger expense for me than rent.

[lazylarry]

6% in a relatively nice area . PA cost of living is fantastic.

[Daryl]

Almost 20%, including cable / internet / all utilities (1 fixed monthly bill). I live next to Vanguard's HQ in PA.

[mouth]

21% in VA inside the DC Beltway to give a sense of COL

Had I known I would have lived here for the last 10 years I would have bought. But in 2007 we all know what housing looked like (in fact this place was only for rent due to a "flip" gone upside down) and I've been "2 years from moving out of town" the entire time; even right now. So buying just never made sense except now in hindsight [sigh]

[deikel]

I consider my mortgage payment as renting from the bank - does that qualify too? In which case its 20% from net, LCOL

[leeks]

10%, NYC, not Manhattan
but every few months we look at a bigger place...so we might pay significantly more sometime soon

[JDP]

5.2%

My fiancee and I pay $270 each per month for rent, so $540 total. We live in a LCOL college town in the Midwest. The apartment is decently sized and is located in a low crime area.

[purpleKatz]

27% back when I was renting. I felt lucky to grab it even though it was right next to a noisy airport and a smelly sewage plant. I very quickly found two roommates who lowered it to 10%. HCOL in Southern California.