When you're renting in the fifth most expensive rental market in the country, you're going to have to find ways to cut corners. One way is by having a roommate. According to a report from personal finance technology company SmartAsset, renters with a roommate in Washington, D.C. save an average of $578/month or about $7,000/year. To calculate their findings, SmartAsset looked at the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment ($1,966) and a two-bedroom apartment ($2,776) in the District. According to The Washington Post, SmartAsset's report accounts for mostly apartments in luxury condo buildings as opposed to apartments in row houses, so the numbers may not be 100 percent accurate. Either way, they show that splitting the bill on a pad might be in one's best financial interests. In other parts of the U.S., renters in San Francisco, the nation's most expensive rental market, save $1,077/month if they have a roommate, while in New York, renters with roommates save $942/month.
· Want to save $578 each month in the D.C. rental market? Get a roommate. [The Washington Post]
· What a Roommate Saves You in 50 U.S. Cities [SmartAsset]
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