Did you accidentally let a minute go by in which you weren't thinking about your crippling financial state?
Well, we're here to remedy that.
According to a deeply depressing report from StreetEasy, New Yorkers spend nearly 2/3 of their income on rent.
That's a pretty hefty chunk of your paycheck that you can kiss goodbye every pay period.
We'll miss you, rent money. Ah, what you could have been... a vacation perhaps? A student loan payment? Meals that don't come from a truck?
Alas, you are none of these things.
Unfortunately, rent costs seem to be outpacing income growth at a pretty steady rate, and it doesn't look like it'll be slowing down anytime soon.
[anad]
Last year, New Yorkers spent 59.7% of their income on rent, which is expected to jump to 65.2% in 2016. Yikes!
Brooklyn's got it the worst; the average renter is expected to spend 65.4% of their income on housing, followed by the Bronx at 54.1%, and Queens at 51.6%. Comparatively, it seems that Queens has it easy, but it's in this borough that renters will face the largest increase from 2015 (a terrifying 8%).
Manhattan follows closely behind Queens where renters will pay 49.1% of their income on rent. That just leaves Staten Island, which at 27.9 % is apparently the only affordable borough in NYC. Cool.
The problem seems to lie in city's extremely high occupancy rate, coupled with stagnant income growth. The rental vacancy rate has dipped below 3.5% - meaning high competition among renters and even higher prices.
Basically, your rent struggles are likely not going to improve anytime soon. Unless, of course, you're planning to move to Staten Island.
No? No one? Yeah, that's what we thought.
Check out How the Expensive Cost of Living in NYC Actually Breaks Down.
[via NBC New York ]