If you’re looking to live alone or have your own place, the city you choose matters as much as your income because rent prices vary more across cities than wages. The Economist’s “Carrie Bradshaw Index” ranks 100 major U.S. cities based on how affordable it is for a person to live alone.
The index is named after Carrie Bradshaw, the main character of HBO’s hit series “Sex and the City.” In the show, Bradshaw lived alone in her swanky New York City apartment.
To determine whether rent is affordable, The Economist states the standard rule of thumb used to measure affordability is that a person should spend no more than 30% of their gross income on rent.
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They used studio apartment rental prices from Zumper, a website that lists rental properties. They figured out how much money one would need to earn to afford the average studio apartment in each city without spending more than 30% of a single income on rent.
The Economist reports that New Yorkers need to earn $151,600 to afford a studio apartment for $3,790 a month, while in Las Vegas, a $1,000 rent for a studio only requires a $40,000 salary.
The Bradshaw score compares actual wages to the income needed for rent. A score “above 1” means studios are affordable; “below 1” means they are not. Living alone has gotten harder. According to the ranking, 41 cities are unaffordable for solo renters this year, up from 38 last year.
Rising costs in southern cities
Now in its third year, the ranking suggests that cities in the South, which were once affordable for people renting alone, are becoming more expensive.
For example, some Texas cities have become unaffordable for solo renters. Houston and Dallas, which were both once affordable, now have Bradshaw scores below 1. In Austin, studio rents rose 25% to $1,580 a month since last year. That would mean you would need to earn $63,200 a year to afford a studio apartment in Austin without it eating up more than a third of total pay. That’s $10,000 more than the city’s median wage, giving a Bradshaw score of 0.8, meaning it’s unaffordable for most.
Tech companies and workers have flocked to Texas, driving up salaries, and rents are rising even faster, according to The Economist.
Memphis, Tennessee, saw the largest drop in affordability. Its Bradshaw score fell from 1.5 to below one as studio rents jumped from $745 to nearly $1,200 in a year. This is due to rising demand, limited new housing and normal yearly market fluctuations.
Cities that have become more affordable
Some cities, such as Tallahassee, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; and Aurora, Colorado, have become significantly more affordable for solo renters compared to last year.
Wichita, Kansas, is the most affordable city for the second consecutive year. Its Bradshaw score of 1.75 means the average person earns 75% more than what’s needed to afford a typical studio apartment.
