03/30/2026
$1,800 a month for a one bedroom apartment.
Most landlords require you to earn 2.5 to 3 times the monthly rent to qualify. That means you need $4,500 to $5,400 a month in income just to get approved for a STARTER apartment.
That's $54,000 to $65,000 a year. Before taxes.
Show me the 22 year old fresh out of college clearing that number. I'll wait too.
This isn't a generational laziness problem. The math genuinely doesn't work for most young adults entering the workforce right now.
The median starting salary for a college graduate in 2025 was around $58,000. Sounds decent until you realize:
• Federal and state taxes take roughly 22 to 25%
• Take home pay lands around $3,600 to $3,800 a month
• A $1,800 apartment eats 47 to 50% of that before you buy a single bag of groceries
The standard rule is housing should be no more than 30% of your income. At $1,800 a month that requires a take home of $6,000 a month. That's $85,000 to $90,000 gross income.
For a one bedroom starter apartment.
The system isn't broken for young people. It's working exactly as designed for people who already own property. For everyone else the math is just genuinely brutal right now.
