Among students equipped with an undergraduate degree, engineering students have the highest expected starting salary (obviously) at $58,670, but even those students would find it hard to live by themselves in New York City, a new study by StreetEasy has revealed.
Using the 30 percent of your income on rent logic, engineering students would be able to shell out just under $1,500 per month on rent, but unfortunately that comes nowhere near the monthly median rent for a studio/one-bedroom in NYC, which is at $2,500, and worse still just in Manhattan at $2,800.
Here’s how the top 20 majors fare:
Now this is assuming that recent grads live alone, but that’s usually not the case. Supposing they did want to do that though, they would have better luck in Northern Queens and East Brooklyn — in neighborhoods like Crown Heights, Bushwick, and Astoria, according to StreetEasy.
But if Manhattan is the way to go then StreetEasy says the neighborhoods with the most inventory are located in Upper Manhattan or in Midtown West, and the East Village.
And of course, it goes without saying that adding a roommate or two alters the possibilities significantly. A Fine Arts major with an expected starting salary of $37,427 can only afford about 11.3 percent of the studio and one-bedroom options in the city — and that’s if they use half of their income on rent. But with one or two roommates, the options increase five times.
Here’s the room and rent breakdown:
If you’re curious on StreetEasy’s analysis on all this, scroll to the bottom of this post, for a detailed breakdown. And for now have at this interactive map that lets you check out the best neighborhood to live based on your major and how much you want to spend.
- Next Challenge for Graduates: Affordable NYC Housing [StreetEasy]
- NYC Rental Market Reports Archives [Curbed]
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