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What % of people in big cities live with roomates? Has this stat grown over the past decade? In particular, if you can find stats about cities such as: London, SF, Dublin, NYC and Tel Aviv it'd be great. If you could also find the average rent paid by a person sharing with one other person in these cities, it'd be amazing.
Hello! Thanks for your question about the percentage of people in big cities who live with roommates. The most useful sources I found to answer your question are statista.com and priceconomics.com. The short version is that worldwide, roommate living is a growing trend. In America, the percentage of adults living with roommates rose from 25.4% in 2002 to 32% in 2012. Similar findings have been found elsewhere in the world. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
I wanted to find the most recent statistics possible in order to get the most updated information in regards to growth of roommate living in London, San Fransisco, Dublin, New York City, and Tel Aviv, while also directly answering question as best I could. Therefore, I used sources such as statista.com, which uses data from 2014, and The Irish Times which includes information from 2015.
ROOMMATE LIVING
Growth of roommate living is surging, and has been climbing steadily for over a decade. By 2012, 32% of adult Americans were living with a roommate, an increase from 25.4% in the previous decade. In particular, New York City jumped from 37.3% in 2002 to 42.2% in 2012, and San Fransisco made the small leap from 35.9% of adults living with roommates in 2002 to 39.2% in 2012. Los Angeles had the highest amount of adults living together at 47.9%.
According to Priceconomics, the top 5 cities in America with the highest population of 18 to 39 year olds living with roommates are San Fransisco with 28%, Arlington, VA with 23%, Minneapolis, MN with 21%, Washington, D.C. with 21%, and Pittsburgh, PA with 21%. Most of the top cities on this list are also relatively expensive, so it's easy to see why living with a roommate would be appealing in these areas.
In London, the number of flatsharers between the ages of 35 and 44 increased by 186% between 2009 and 2014, and increased by 300% between the ages of 45 and 54. In Dublin, rental growth increased 9.2% by the second quarter in 2015. According to the Irish Times: "House rents were up by 8.8% in the capital and apartment rents were up by 9.4%." While the exact data on roommate growth in Tel Aviv was not available, it is safe to assume that there is major growth considering the substantial increase in living expenses, which I will explain in detail in the next section.
HOUSING COSTS
In the United States, San Fransisco is the most expensive city to rent in, averaging a rental cost of $4.75 per square foot. New York City comes in second with an average rental cost of $4.54 per square foot. Abroad, London comes in comparatively low with an average rental cost of £2.30 ($2.87) per square foot.
In Dublin (2015), renting a house costs approximately €1,387 ($1492.87) a month, and €1,260 ($1356.18) for an apartment. In Tel Aviv, rent has increased over 72% since 2008. One Tel Aviv resident reports living with two roommates on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv while making an "average salary" of approximately "NIS 8,000 (about $2,100) a month" and pays NIS 2,200 ($582) a month for his share of the rent. According to economist Noam Gruber, “Israel is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world in proportion to income.”
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, there has been a surge in roommate living both in the United States and abroad, and this generally corresponds with the rise of rental costs in all cities across the globe. San Fransisco has the highest percentage of adults living with roommates in the United States and is also the most expensive city to rent in the U.S., and Dublin has seen their cost of housing skyrocket along with the number of houses and apartments being rented over the past couple of years. Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!