Living with a Roommate Will Save Renters More Than $650 a Month

SAN FRANCISCO, March 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. renters will save about $661 a month on rent if they move in with a roommate, according to a new analysis from HotPads®.

Nationwide, a renter living alone in a one-bedroom apartment can expect to spend about $1,486 per month on rent. The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,650, which means two roommates splitting a two-bedroom apartment can each expect to spend $825 a month on rent, saving $661 a month.

HotPads also analyzed how much renters can expect to save by having a roommate in the main city of the 10 largest U.S. metros. Among the cities analyzed, renters with roommates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Houston save the most. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, renters who pair up with a roommate can each expect to save over $1,000 a month more than those who live alone.

Rents across the country rose 2.2 percent over the past year and are expected to rise another 1.5 percent in 2018ⁱ. While rising housing costs may cause some renters to search for new ways to save money, only about one in five renters in the U.S. have a roommateⁱⁱ.

"Living with a roommate is a great way for renters to cut costs and make ends meet," said Douglas Pope, co-founder and vice president of HotPads. "Unfortunately for those renters in the most expensive cities, living with a roommate offers the least amount of cost savings, which continues to drive issues with affordability. Overall, pairing up with a roommate can free up space in a renter's budget for other expenses, or give them a chance to put money aside for a down payment to buy a home."

The median rent in San Francisco and Los Angeles is higher than the national median, but renters in more expensive cities don't always save the most by getting a roommate. For example, median rent in Washington, D.C. is higher than in Houston, but renters with roommates in Washington, D.C. save $144 less per month than renters with roommates in Houston.

HotPads is a Zillow Group-owned apartment and home search platform for renters in urban areas across the United States. For more information on the U.S. rental market, visit HotPads.com.

HotPads

HotPads is an efficient rental search platform for urban areas across the United States, with features designed for competitive markets such as map-based search, real-time notifications and detailed information on landlords and property managers that help renters spend less time searching and more time feeling excited about their next home.

Launched in 2005, HotPads is based in San Francisco and is owned and operated by Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).

HotPads is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.

ⁱZillow Rent Forecast, January 2018
ⁱⁱZillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends, 2017. https://www.zillow.com/report/2017/renters/typical-american-renter/

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SOURCE Hotpads, Inc.