Gen Zers: turns out, you ARE paying more on rent than previous generations

These days, rent in New York ain't cheap for anybody, but it's especially pricey for Gen-Zers, many of whom are just beginning to enter an abysmally expensive housing market. 

In fact, if you're a Gen-Z person living in New York right now, you're expected to pay a whopping $226,230 in rent—13% more than what Millennials paid in their 20s—by the time you're 30, according to a new survey conducted by Rent Cafe, which analyzed data on the IPUMS database.

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There are plenty of reasons catalyzing the trend, none of them defining.

A part of it is the pandemic: since thousands of New Yorkers left and were replaced by a new batch of people, landlords had the upper hand in setting rent prices, according to The City.

Inflation, and efforts by the Federal Reserve to lower inflation by raising interest rates, also pushed buyers into the rental market, making renting more competitive overall.

Another possible explanation involves shady practices by landlords, who keep rent stabilized apartments empty to increase the perception of scarcity and keep demand up, per Curbed. 

Whatever the reasons are, the data is clear: rent in New York is higher now than it has maybe ever been. In 2010, the median asking monthly rent in Manhattan was $2,950. Today, that figure is closer to $4,396, according to date gathered by Statisa. 

The survey also ranked the most expensive areas in New York state for Gen-Z to pay rent. New York City topped that list followed by Albany, Rochester and Syracuse. 

Nationally, New York took 5th place in the most expensive cities to rent after San Jose, San Francisco, Honolulu and Boston. 

All that being said, Gen-Z does have the upper hand in one thing: on average, owning in New York costs 6% less now than it did when Millennials were in their 20s and in general and this current generation of folks is actually earning $791,687 during their 20s—$10,000 more than Millennials made average when they were that age. What's more, home ownership is costing Gen-Z about 30% of their income, compared to 36% when analyzing the figure against Millenial trends.

Long story short: renting sucks for Zillennials right now but buying has become easier. Do with that information what you please.