Due to the increased cost of living because of inflation, I’ve been wondering if renting an apartment off campus is still affordable for college students as of today, depending on where your college is located?
Since my college was located in a small town (less than 10k students) off campus housing ranged between $300 - $800 a month, depending on the type of apartment or house.
Rents have gone up this year. The lowest I’ve heard is $450/month and all the way up $2K/month.
It really varies based on accommodations. My son paid $500 a month fir a room in a 10 bedroom crappy frat house in a not nice area of NJ, my daughter paid $750 for a 6 bedroom townhouse in Delaware walkable to campus and downtown, dd19 is paying $800 a month to live in a resort (pool, hot tub, boat dock, volleyball courts, socials, free coffee and spray tanning, private campus shuttle, study building, paddle boards/kayaks) and us moving to a more expensive place downtown walkable to campus with an ocean view balcony (in both cases every bedroom had a private bath and walk in closet), in SC. She will be able to get away with not having a car, parking is horrible on campus. Oh, and the second place will also have free spray tanning (?).
ETA my daughter sublet a room in a 2 bedroom in Boston for $1300, is actually on her way to her 4 bedroom she’s moving into for this year ($1000). Very small and basic, unfurnished.
My daughter lucked out that her final lease on Manhattan’s UWS was still Covid-depressed. She paid about $1,000/month for a “closet with a view” in a 3 bedroom apartment with a spare storage room. It made sense, because they needed a full calendar year (rather than semester housing) to be able to work their internships.
However, as the year came to a close, the landlord offered to renew the lease: demanding 50% increase AND to pay into a higher deposit.
Now she lives in another metropolitan area, and for the same money (actually slightly less) as LAST year’s Manhattan rent, she now has a share of a 2-bedroom apartment that has two baths, two walk-in closets, beautiful large kitchen/living room with island, balcony, floor level entrance to parking garage, pool, and other amenities in a gated condo complex.
In LA, $1200 for shared bedroom (apartment building) near campus. Renting a house might be cheaper option.
Didn’t mean to reply to you, sorry!
JMU. Shares an apartment with 3 other people. Each has their own furnished bedroom/bathroom.
Previous place was ~$575 a month including utilities. I thought it was really nice (but my standards are low for cc) but the bedroom was a bit small, but had a double bed.
New place is supposedly a coveted apartment complex. S takes care of utilities so I’m not sure what they are now, but rent is $585 a month. I haven’t seen it yet, but the bedroom looks huge and has a queen sized bed!
I have been very pleased with the prices there.
Even though I never lived off campus during my college years, my parents thought that it was more convenient (for me) to live on campus all 4 years, since I worked on campus at the time.
However, on campus meal plans are usually more expensive than buying your own food (if you stay on a budget while still eating healthy)
Philadelphia. DC still lives on campus for the safety and convenience, but many friends live off campus. Shared off campus housing ranges from $750 to $1500 per person. The amount varies depending upon the distance from school. The $750 rental is ~20min walk from campus. Apartments adjacent to campus are in the upper range; some of DC’s friends pay upwards of $2400/mo for studio apartments.
ETA: price include utilities
My son pays $600 for his room in a town with 3 colleges. This is a newer building and while the units are 4 bedroom 2 bath, each person signs a lease for their own individual room so no stress about hunting down roommates if they skip out on rent.
eta: fully furnished apartment too.
In San Luis Obispo California my daughter was paying $875 a month plus utilities for a bedroom in a condo near campus. In Flagstaff Arizona my son paid more like $650-700 for a room.
My son pays $900 for a shared bedroom in an apartment. It’s 10 minutes walk to Berkeley. If renting in farther location or in a house, it’s probably cheaper.
One son paid $800 for shared bedroom, separate lease and across from SDSU campus in 2018. Now it is around $1100 for the same apartment/living arrangement.
Other son paid $350 for a shared bedroom in a 3 bedroom townhouse with 4 other roommates in 2017 near UC Davis and total rent was $2000. Now same townhouse is $2900/month.
$950 for 1/2 of a 2 bedroom apartment in Salt Lake City.
In Houston around my daughter’s campus rents are around $1000/month for a shared apartment/house but with your own bedroom. They may go up if furnished or really high end and down if you are willing to be a little further from campus. The neighborhood around campus is filled with $1,000,000 homes but if you luck into one that’s less nice you can get a good deal that way too. OR if you are willing to share a bedroom.