Does anyone else feel like rent sucks up a large portion of their monthly income? While my salary has increased from when I first moved out in my early 20s, I'd give anything to pay that $800 rent from my first apartment. Sure, I shared the space with a roommate and lacked a dishwasher and in-unit laundry, but I'll probably never pay that little for housing again, and that's kind of tragic...
I was curious about other people's first experience as a renter, so I asked the BuzzFeed community to share what they paid in rent for their first apartment, as well as how old they are now. Man, did these answers vary! Some people lived in luxury, while others practically lived in The Cupboard Under the Stairs.
Renters of an older generation paid as little as $150 per month for their first place (yes, you read that right), while recent renters pay upwards of $2,000 or more! Here are 35 stories that will honestly make you wish you had a time machine:
Thanks, inflation!
1. "I am 73. First apartment was in Gramercy Park, NYC. $300/month alcove studio in a building with a doorman."
2. "I’m 20 and about to move into my first apartment. Rent is $1,050, not including electricity and Wi-Fi."
—Lincoln, Nebraska
3. "I'm 33. My now-husband and I moved into our first apartment 10 years ago in a town about an hour away from Seattle, Washington. Our rent was $850 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit. I just looked, and the same size unit in that complex now goes for $2,100. Still miss that apartment, actually..."
4. "I’m 66. My first apartment was $285/month. It was a two-bedroom unit with a balcony, and I split the rent with a roommate in Toledo, Ohio."
5. "I paid $1,100/month with nothing included for a one-bedroom in Nashua, New Hampshire in 2011 (I'm now 34). I lived on exclusively Lean Cuisines and Annie's mac and cheese that first year."
6. "In 2012, I paid $1,200/month for a studio apartment in Astoria, Queens in NYC. I lived alone and was 15 minutes walking distance from a train. The studio was actually more of a 'junior one bedroom' since it had a foyer, a main living/sleeping space, and a separate kitchen."
"My building was built in the '20s with cool architectural features and was very clean and well-maintained by a live-in super. I was within walking distance of tons of bars and restaurants but in a more residential section so it was quiet. I loved this place."
—Rebecca, NYC
7. "I'm 49. My first apartment in 1993 cost me $400/month in a suburb of Chicago. Was working two full-time jobs waiting tables to keep that one-bedroom, one-bathroom roof over my head."
8. "I moved in with two roommates and earned $11 an hour in July 2020 to afford an apartment that was $1,200 plus internet and electric. Honestly, it was a pretty good deal. We all got our own bathrooms. It was a three-story townhouse. The only problem was it wasn’t in the best neighborhood. Now, I make a good salary but had to move home to pay off student loans."
—Kayt, Northeast Tennessee
9. "I was 20 years old, and my college friends and I were moving into our first apartment during the pandemic. They charged us $440 each, but for what we got, it was pretty worth it. Everyone got their own room and bathroom, and there was a small kitchen and a furnished living room. It was honestly very nice to start out with, but a bit excessive if you’re a college student, especially if you’re paying for college along with utilities, groceries, etc."
—Anonymous, Ohio
10. "I'm in my mid-40s, and my first apartment was a two-bedroom, one-bath for $650. At the beach. In Southern California. In the late '90s. I had one roommate. We both worked mall retail. It was a different time."
11. "I'm 25 and moved into my first apartment in 2019. I rented a tiny studio apartment in San Francisco for $2,050. No laundry, no amenities, and a pre-fire building. Really blew my mind how expensive things were."
12. "I'm 23 and only got my first apartment a few years ago. I paid $540 for a single bedroom in a rooming house (shared kitchen, shared bathroom, coin-operated laundry, no living room area) in a pricy college town. Currently, I'm living in Upper Michigan and pay $750 for two bedrooms, one bath, a large living room, and a full kitchen."
"Utilities and parking are included. I have a view of Lake Superior and easy beach access. The only catch is that my town has fewer than 2,000 people, and I'm at least a 45-minute drive from anywhere!"
13. "My first apartment on my own was in 1993 in the East Village in NYC. It was a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom walk-up for $950/month. After a year, it was just too small so I moved into the top floor of an old factory in Brooklyn. Huge space but, at the time, a sketchy area. Rent was $1,200."
—Jeffrey, Cincinnati
14. "I'm in my early 40s. I paid $375/month for my first studio apartment in Milwaukee. Then, I moved to a LUX three-bedroom unit with a sunroom, two walk-in closets, and a pantry on the lower east side of Milwaukee and paid $325 (I had three roommates). My room was a mansion: I had a couch and a bed in that thing. We had a claw foot tub! I think fondly of that place, though the rent is now something like $3,500/month."
—Yolanda Robinson
15. "I’m 40. When I was 20 in college in Milwaukee, I paid $500/month for a large one-bedroom apartment in an old building with an elevator. In NYC from 2007–2008, I lived in a tiny two-bedroom apartment in the West Village with a roommate. The unit had no closets and no shared living space except a tiny kitchen. We also had to pay a brokers fee for it. It was $2,800/month total."
16. "We’re in our early 50s. In the early '90s, my boyfriend (now husband) and I paid $255 for a one-bedroom in one of the two most expensive apartment complexes in town at the time. Both of us were working in a restaurant as waitstaff making $2.13 an hour plus tips."
"We looked it up recently, and the same apartment is now $1,200. We had air conditioning but no washer/dryer. The complex has a small pool and hot tub and lots of trees providing shade which is very helpful in central Texas."
—MC
17. "I’m 23 and first rented in 2021. It was a wonky little college house in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for $350/month. Our entryway boasted three different floorings within a one-foot radius. Also, the entire second floor was completely uneven; when I moved in, I set my roller suitcase at the top of the stairs, and it rolled all the way to my room at the end of the hall. How convenient! It was weird, and I loved its little charms!"
—Anna, Eau Claire (College Housing)
18. "I'm 49, and my first apartment was in Waco, Texas. It was a fully furnished efficiency, so nothing spectacular. It was $235 a month in 1992."
19. "My first apartment was in 2016 in a suburb of Seattle when I was 22. It was $1,600 per month and is now $2,600 with no renovations since I lived there."
—Anonymous
20. "I’m 23. I moved into my first apartment when I was 20. It was a one-bedroom in Nashville for $1,500/month, and I shared it with my then-boyfriend, and we split the cost 50/50. Plus, we had to rent a washer and dryer for $50/month. I moved back in with my parents and have no idea if/when I’ll be able to have the financial stability to move out again because everything is SO DANG EXPENSIVE."
21. "I was 18 and had a lovely three-bedroom furnished apartment for about $150. Thirty years later, I live in an unfurnished studio and pay $1,600."
22. "I’m 32, and my first apartment was in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of Philly in 2015. $1,500/month for a two-bedroom, but the kitchen was tiny, and the heat barely worked. I moved to the suburbs when my lease ended the next year and got a big studio for $1,000/month. It had utilities included, off-street parking, an in-unit washer/dryer, and dishwasher."
23. "I started renting my first apartment a year ago at age 20, and I pay $1,500 for a one-bedroom. It’s spacious with a balcony, dining room, living room, kitchen, and walk-in closet. Honestly, the place is gorgeous and renovated, but it’s wild how expensive things are."
—Josie, Ontario
24. "I am 39, and my first apartment was in 2003 when I was just about to turn 20. It was a two-bedroom basement apartment with a washer and dryer included. All utilities were included in the rent, and all we had to pay for was our internet. It was $425 a month! It was the cutest little apartment near many stores and a farmer's market. It had a backyard! Fast-forward to today, that same apartment is now $1,375 a month with nothing included."
25. "I began renting in 2020. I was 28 years old, living in a three-bedroom unit with my husband and our child. We paid $3,760/month at that time. We still live here, and the price has increased to $3,915/month."
—Anonymous, Martha’s Vineyard
26. "My first apartment was in 2003, and I paid $400 to split a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate in LA. Better than that was a year later when I paid $275 to have a bedroom that was actually the dining room of an apartment with two other girls. I feel like I did my early 20s right."
27. "I'm 28, and my first apartment in the Connecticut suburbs at 21 was $1,300. My current apartment (also in the Connecticut suburbs) is $2,400."
28. "I'm 27, and the rent on my first apartment was $2,150 in total. This was in 2019, and it was a two-bed, two-bath in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. I had one roommate, and we split the rent two ways, with my share being $1,050. My roommate agreed to pay $50 more, so they could have the parking spot and the bedroom with A/C."
—Anonymous, Los Angeles
29. "In the mid-2000s, I lived in a house that had been split into three apartments. I lived in the one-bedroom, one-bathroom back part of the house and paid $300/month. My friends lived in the front part of the house and paid $600 for two bedrooms and one bathroom."
"I just looked the address up, and the 2 BR/1 BA portion my friends paid $600/month for is now $1,750/month plus a $50 monthly pet rental. My little $300 section of the house now rents for $1,350 plus a $50 monthly pet rental. WTF."
—Rex, NC
30. "I’m 20, living in my first apartment in an Oklahoma college town. All four of us roommates pay $560/month which includes utilities and covered parking."
—Anonymous
31. "I'm 38. My first one-bedroom apartment in 2003 was $400/month. No dishwasher or laundry, but the only bill we paid was electric, and it had central air and a tiny patio."
32. "In 2013, I rented my first apartment (a one-bedroom) near my college’s campus in Columbus, Ohio for $500 per month. The following year, I had a roommate, and we shared a two-bedroom for $800 per month, so only $400 each."
"I knew plenty of college kids that rented large houses and paid less than I did, but I feel like $400–$500 wasn’t super uncommon. Now, you’re lucky to find any one-bedrooms in Columbus's popular neighborhoods for $1,000, and two-bedrooms are getting closer to $2,000 or more."
—Anonymous
33. "I paid $2,400 for a 1 BR/1 BA in Arlington, Virginia (utilities NOT included) when I graduated undergrad in 2012. I commuted to Washington, DC to work full-time for less than $35k annually and attend grad school. I had to have a roommate and work a second job but still had to take out student loans for tuition and fees. I'm still paying on those loans, too."
—Anonymous
34. "In 1997 (mid-20s), I got my first real-world apartment: a 1BR/1BA in Seattle for $800. Great location: Eastlake neighborhood and a block from Lake Union. Had a washer/dryer and dishwasher. Underground parking was an extra $75, but was worth every penny. I left for SF after less than a year. No complaints about the apartment. I would move back to that location in a heartbeat if I had to live in Seattle again."
35. "My first 2bd/2ba aparment was $525 in 2012. It was in Cleveland, Mississippi, and infested with snakes. The 3bd/2ba house I rent now in Memphis is $1,270 until they raise the rent in November. No snakes."
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.