Yahoo Finance "I Paid $48K Off In Debt" — Nearly Half Of Young Adults Are Living At Home, And This 27-Year-Old Just Shared Many Reasons Why
This post is part of a series to be more transparent with housing costs and pay in America. If you'd like to make the topic of money and housing a little less taboo, consider filling out this form to be featured.
As housing and groceries continue to rise in cost, wages fail to keep pace. For regular-degular people, it can sometimes feel like we are in the great unknown regarding what we should be spending and what we should be getting paid.
And as life gets more expensive, talking about money still remains a bit of a taboo topic. I often have nagging voices — from employers and older generations — in the back of my mind telling me that talking about money should be completely off-limits.
And look, we were taught not to disclose, so I get why we are finicky when it comes to talking about money. There are legitimate reasons, too — whether it be to protect our image and assets or even avoid being obnoxious. It can also just feel flat-out embarrassing, especially if you've made a few financial mistakes (I'm guilty). But I believe talking about pay and finances can go a looong way in improving financial literacy. We could all use a little more transparency!
So, let's begin slowly. We've started a housing and pay transparency series where we showcase people's homes, how much they pay for said home, how much they make, and any other interesting details (like the most precious thing in their home, the most expensive thing in their home, and, more importantly — their stories).
This week, we're featuring Nia, a 27-year-old who recently moved out of her family's home for the first time (go Nia!!!). Let's start with the basics:
Age? 27
Pronouns? She/Her
Location? Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation? Government Contracts Coordinator
Salary? $45k
Hours? Full-time
Own or rent? Rent
Rent cost? $1,095/month
Roommates? None
Utilities cost? "Water is included in rent. I pay $25 for Wi-Fi, $30 for electricity, and about $100 for gas."
TOTAL: $1,250
# Beds/baths/floors? "One bedroom, one bath, a living room, and a small kitchen on one floor."
Square footage? "I live in a duplex home that is 1,600 sq. ft. overall. My unit is 800 sq. ft. and shotgun style."
Amenities? "A washer/dryer that is not safe to use (I do laundry at parents' home nearby), oven/stove, fridge, and a driveway outside."
Pretty nice, eh?
Ok, now some fun stuff!
"My electric adjustable desk that I use to work from home. It was $200 from Amazon."
"My color-coordinated and curated book collection/bookshelf. It's my baby, my pride and joy."
Ok, moving on to the nitty gritty...
Since this is her first apartment, Nia said she was limited in what she really wanted due to price but decided on her place based on affordability, location, and that it was a duplex rather than a large apartment building.
She said, "I recently celebrated my 27th birthday and wanted to move out of my parents' home, but not too far away. Though I was able to save up a ton of money at home (enough to pay all my bills for two years), my current salary meant I did not qualify for the apartments I really desired, and I especially couldn't afford to buy a home in my neighborhood of choice."
Despite the restraints, Nia found her apartment, a duplex in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes, and preferred it over a large apartment building with hundreds of tenants. She said, "My neighbor and I speak whenever we see each other, take each other's trash to the curb, keep the exterior beautiful and maintained, etc. We treat the home like we own it. I don't always see that kind of care in the big 100-unit apartment communities."
According to Zillow, the average one-bedroom costs $1,626 in Atlanta, and the average annual salary is $71,464, according to ZipRecruiter. In comparison, Nia's spending $1,095/monthly for rent (before utilities) on a $45k salary.
While Nia cannot afford the average one-bed, the amount she's spending on rent is pretty relative to her income — about 29% of her income on rent (compared to the comparable average of 27%). She's in line with the popular "spend only 30% on rent" rule (living in NYC, I could not say the same).
Still, Nia doesn't make enough yet (nor does the average person in Atlanta) to afford a home in the area. According to Fortune, the annual salary needed to afford a $400,000 home (the average in Atlanta) is about $127,000. Additionally, as many renters face, she's been met with some unexpected sacrifices and surprises in the three months she's been living here.
She told BuzzFeed, "The unit looked so nice and charming on the surface, but living in it, I came to see that the home has a lot of structural issues (like pipes and vents) that a non-professional like myself is not trained to look for. It was built in the 1940s and has not had major renovations in a long time."
She continued, "The property manager has been good about making the fixes, but it's super annoying to tell him what he should've fixed before putting it on the market."
"It's my first place, and I waited such a long time before leaving my parents' house, so it's a bummer, and I feel like I made a huge mistake...but I try not to get down on myself," she added.
"I remind myself that it's just a matter of market and affordability, and [I should] just level up so I can live how I want."
So, "leveling up" is in her plan for the future — despite only living here for a few months, Nia said she's looking to move out as soon as she lands a new job with a better salary or finds a better place at a similar price. However, looking for a new place hasn't been easy.
She said, "I'm looking at places now (I began my lease in February 2024), and I haven't found anything better than what I already have now at the same price. Many are worse while asking for higher rent." She also said she's contacted family who own homes in the area to see if she could be their tenant.
"I have a close friend here who owns a home and works in real estate," Nia said. "She keeps it real with me about my options with my current budget: (1) live on your own and slum it out, (2) get a roommate so you can live nice, or (3) go live in the mid-tier large apartment."
As for the roommate option, Nia said, "Absolutely not." She told BuzzFeed, "I had roommates throughout college and vowed to never do it post-graduating; I'd have to be with family or on my own. I've lost a best friend trying to be roommates." She said she'll move back home if she doesn't find something by the time her lease is up.
Like Nia, with the high cost of living, low wages, and the fact that one of the only ways to live alone is by living with roommates, more and more young people are moving back home or choosing to stay home. According to a survey from Harris Poll for Bloomberg, nearly half of people (45%) in the US aged 18 to 29 live at home with their families (the highest since the 1940s 😳).
Additionally, according to the poll, more than 60% of Gen Z'ers and millennials reported moving back home in the past two years, citing financial challenges.
As for herself, Nia told BuzzFeed, "I lived at home for several years because I liked the comfort of each individual contributing to everyone's livelihood and because my parents charged me low rent ($500 a month)."
She added, "I would come home, and there's dinner. I never had to think about certain chores like trash or lawn. My household contribution was cleaning and sharing my car."
She continued, "I also saved up so much money. When I finished college, my credit was terrible, and I had nothing to my name. In about two years, I got my credit to excellent and got good at managing my personal finances."
As mentioned earlier, staying at home allowed Nia to save enough to pay all her bills for two years, including her car and student loans, which were $21k and $60k to begin with, respectively. Now, Nia said, "I have $8k left on my 2021 Kia. I have $25k left on my student loan. Again, shoutout to living at home. I conquered a lot of debt."
She said, "I was happy with the results [of living at home] and decided to stay longer, as I couldn't come up with good reasons to leave. Sometimes, friends and family would ask me about my dating life. It never suffered. (Though I did prefer to date people with their own place!)"
Nia said she encourages those in a similar situation, aka living at home but teetering on the idea of moving out, to think about whether their goals or "needs and wants" are more important. She said, "I say this because it's perfectly fine to want your own place — you might even need your own place, depending on your circumstances. However, it could be wise to hunker down for a year or two to reach a goal."
In Nia's case, despite wanting to save as much as possible so she could go straight into homeownership, she eventually decided to move out for her comfort. "I decided to go ahead and rent just so I could experience having my own bathroom and living room," she told BuzzFeed.
Still, before she moved, she set some goals beforehand to be comfortable with her move. She said, "I made sure I had enough savings to cover all my fixed payments and rent for at least one year. I did this because I watched people get laid off; I had been scared of being next (when I was in corporate). Also, what if something happens to my unit or I decide it's no longer a good idea for me to stay? I wanted to be able to afford to break the lease."
Overall, Nia said she's grateful to have been able to stay with her parents to get a good financial footing. She said, "I thank them every day for contributing to my strong financial start because though it's not been easy being on my own so far, it hasn't set me back."
Still, I'd wager that if the cost of living — from college debt to rent — weren't so high, living at home wouldn't be the first choice for many young adults. For many, it's simply the only option to get a start in this world (and for many others who don't have support at home, it's not an option at all).
Compared to other major US cities, I find that Atlanta gets a pretty solid rap regarding the cost of living (aside from healthcare). An Axios report noted that Atlanta's relatively low cost of living is attractive for "people who want the perks of being in a major U.S. city without a high price tag."
“Why do people keep moving to atlanta” cause this is $7 at publix and rent is 1k pic.twitter.com/76k6Bbbn6G
— Winnie (@AtlWinKnee) May 20, 2024
And Nia said that despite the early challenges of moving out, she's pretty happy overall in Atlanta.
She told BuzzFeed, "Regarding work, I'm excited about what I can do with my skill set and where I can go next. Despite the low pay, this job in government contracts was the best career move I've made thus far. I also have my own bathroom and living room — the main things I wanted! I was adamant about not having a roommate, so I'm grateful for that, too. There's room for improvement, but I think 18-year-old me would be very impressed."
Still, while Nia said she's getting by in Atlanta, it's not exactly like she's living large with her salary. She said, "My city is no longer affordable if you're trying to live in luxury on your own with an entry-level salary of $40k–$50k."
She clarified, "This is not including those in tech, healthcare, or other in-demand fields where the starting salaries tend to be much higher. My friends in those fields do great here."
Because most of her family, friends, and professional network are nearby, Nia said she will probably stay in Atlanta to be near her support system. But after researching jobs and the cost of living in other cities (Chattanooga, Tennessee; metro-Phoenix, Arizona; Huntsville, Alabama; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, to name a few), she said she could see herself relocating if she knew for a fact she'd be living with better opportunities for career growth and homeownership.
Buuuut...that's it from Nia! Round of applause to her for being transparent about salary and rent (love to see it), and why living at home is sometimes a necessary choice now to get ahead as a young adult. 👏
If you like this series and are on board with more salary, rent, and housing transparency, consider filling out this form to be featured. Whether you have an average apartment, a designer pad, or an Amazon tiny home, we wanna see real people's places and hear their stories. So consider sending in — can't wait to hear from ya!
