1st years in NYC biglaw - how much do you pay on rent? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I understand the rents were super low during the pandemic but they are now almost pre-pandemic level.

Do you have roommates? Whether you have roommates or not, how much do you pay on rent monthly?

[Anonymous User]

“post pandemic” (recent) lease, 1BR & live alone, UWS: $2,700/month

[Anonymous User]

$3,650 for luxury alcove studio in Midtown West. Could have found cheaper but in unit w/d was a must for me (I'm lazy).

[Anonymous User]

$3,000 studio.

[Anonymous User]

$2200 2br 2 bath In astoria, 20-25 min commute to midtown.

[Anonymous User]

Received a fantastic COVID deal in February/March. Significant other is also in big law. We each pay net 2300 (net total 4600) before utilities and amenities.

[otisreadingcomp]

Feel like the poll could have used some numbers past $3k considering how expensive NY apartments are and how much even a good studio costs to rent in certain neighborhoods.

[GuyApollo]

~$2300 in the west village. Lease started in July but got a ~$400/month covid discount for 14 months. I'm very much not living in luxury, though. It's a walkup with no laundry, no doorman, and it's quite tiny -- but it is prime location so not too bad. 25 minutes to office.

[Anonymous User]

$1,750 for my share of a 2 BR in the UWS with one roommate. No elevator, no doorman, no laundry, but great location, great amount of space, and ~25 minute commute door to door. Most importantly, the costs are low.

My advice? Save! Save! Save your money. The longer you can tolerate sharing a space with a roommate, the better for your pocketbook (and also helps your sanity if your roommate is removed from biglaw and can provide some perspective). It's not a luxury building, but it meets my needs and allows me to sock away $$$.

[Anonymous User]

$1,750 for my share of a 2 BR in the UWS with one roommate [...]

$3,650 for luxury alcove studio in Midtown West [...]

These are both extremes (low & high), and there's not a ton to be gained from dwelling on extremes but — it is crazy that the 1st anon is pocketing nearly $24,000 more cash a year (~$2k a month) versus the 2nd anon. Not exactly a life-changing amount of money, but with compounding returns and all, nothing to laugh at...

Then again, I would probably go crazy living with a roommate, so that has to be accounted for.

[thisismytlsuername]

$1,750 for my share of a 2 BR in the UWS with one roommate [...]

$3,650 for luxury alcove studio in Midtown West [...]

These are both extremes (low & high), and there's not a ton to be gained from dwelling on extremes but — it is crazy that the 1st anon is pocketing nearly $24,000 more cash a year (~$2k a month) versus the 2nd anon. Not exactly a life-changing amount of money, but with compounding returns and all, nothing to laugh at...

Then again, I would probably go crazy living with a roommate, so that has to be accounted for.

I'm not sure that $3650 is the high end of the extreme. It's easy to go higher than that. I knew a first year who was paying more in rent than I was as a 7th year. $4600 (Williamsburg luxury) to $3300 (West Village walkup) (pre-pandemic prices).

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

$3,650 is a lot of money and more than one needs to spend, but on the new salary scale is doable. Now if we add 200K debt to the mix it's miserable and you're eating hot pockets.

[Anonymous User]

$3,650 anon here. For context I don't have any loans and am (luckily!) healthy and otherwise frugal (i.e. buy groceries vs. eating out, don't drink, buy clothes on sale, etc.). So rent is really my only significant expense.

[Anonymous User]

The monthly payment on my 15-year mortgage on a 4 bedroom house that is a 20-min drive from downtown Austin (purchased in 2019) is $2,000.

All of you can get amazing jobs in any other city in this day and age.

I love NYC and recognize that it can provide an unparalleled lifestyle like no other, but only if you have the time to enjoy it.

[thisismytlsuername]

The monthly payment on my 15-year mortgage on a 4 bedroom house that is a 20-min drive from downtown Austin (purchased in 2019) is $2,000.

All of you can get amazing jobs in any other city in this day and age.

I love NYC and recognize that it can provide an unparalleled lifestyle like no other, but only if you have the time to enjoy it.

Nice, have fun in Texas. Not sure why you're posting in this thread though.

[Anonymous User]

The monthly payment on my 15-year mortgage on a 4 bedroom house that is a 20-min drive from downtown Austin (purchased in 2019) is $2,000.

All of you can get amazing jobs in any other city in this day and age.

I love NYC and recognize that it can provide an unparalleled lifestyle like no other, but only if you have the time to enjoy it.

Nice, have fun in Texas. Not sure why you're posting in this thread though.

Have fun attending teh Broadway shows in all your spare time. Hope you would consider not treading water someday.

Sorry, I know this is super obnoxious, but this is simply obligatory in any NYC rent thread lol.

[Anonymous User]

The monthly payment on my 15-year mortgage on a 4 bedroom house that is a 20-min drive from downtown Austin (purchased in 2019) is $2,000.

All of you can get amazing jobs in any other city in this day and age.

I love NYC and recognize that it can provide an unparalleled lifestyle like no other, but only if you have the time to enjoy it.

Nice, have fun in Texas. Not sure why you're posting in this thread though.

Have fun attending teh Broadway shows in all your spare time. Hope you would consider not treading water someday.

Sorry, I know this is super obnoxious, but this is simply obligatory in any NYC rent thread lol.

It is not, in fact, obligatory to derail a thread that provides people with real life data that can help them inform their decisions.

[Anonymous User]

Apologies. Please continue the discussion.

[Anonymous User]

seeing a lot of West Village. I've lived there, it's beautiful, but there aren't a ton of doorman apartments, buildings are old...IDK, I prefer living in UES/UWS and just going there for dinner or whatever

$3,650+ on rent as a first year is...I dunno man lol. if it's mostly for the the laundry, I don't think you spent much time looking - my W/D is literally across the hall. maybe you're just rich.

[thisismytlsuername]

The monthly payment on my 15-year mortgage on a 4 bedroom house that is a 20-min drive from downtown Austin (purchased in 2019) is $2,000.

All of you can get amazing jobs in any other city in this day and age.

I love NYC and recognize that it can provide an unparalleled lifestyle like no other, but only if you have the time to enjoy it.

Nice, have fun in Texas. Not sure why you're posting in this thread though.

Have fun attending teh Broadway shows in all your spare time. Hope you would consider not treading water someday.

Sorry, I know this is super obnoxious, but this is simply obligatory in any NYC rent thread lol.

Thanks man! I can't even count the number of broadway shows, plays, off-broadway shows, comedy shows, concerts, sporting events, Michelin-starred dinners, and various other events I've been to in my time here. And I've never had to sit in traffic to do any of it! Just $2.75 on the subway and I'm there.

But yeah, I guess saving up a couple million bucks during my time in biglaw is "treading water." I could have saved up slightly more living in a glorified college town surrounded on all sides by gun nuts who drive Ford F350s to commute to their office job. That would have been fun too!

[Anonymous User]

seeing a lot of West Village. I've lived there, it's beautiful, but there aren't a ton of doorman apartments, buildings are old...IDK, I prefer living in UES/UWS and just going there for dinner or whatever

$3,650+ on rent as a first year is...I dunno man lol. if it's mostly for the the laundry, I don't think you spent much time looking - my W/D is literally across the hall. maybe you're just rich.

Not in BL (yet), but is there some special reason why doormen are particularly useful if you’re working long hours? For what it’s worth, I’ve lived in the city for 6 years and never had a package stolen. Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky.

Haven’t seen a ton of outer borough people in this thread; seems like people are still prioritizing proximity and short commutes, even in this WFH/flex world.

[Anonymous User]

I was in Queens for a while (not LIC or Astoria, a bit further in) and it was fine. The commute was not bad, but what sucked was having to go into the city all the time to see friends because it was really hard to convince people to come to Queens. I also almost never saw friends that lived in Brooklyn because going between Brooklyn and Queens sucks. I lucked into a nice and affordable place in Hell's Kitchen (not my favorite neighborhood ambience-wise, but super convenient to what I need to do and the apartment is huge and cheap - 2br for $2600). I would choose Manhattan over the boroughs if I could afford it (and close-in Brooklyn is no cheaper than many parts of Manhattan anyways) because of the convenience.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

I still don't really see why 3500 vs 2500 in rent really matters. In NYC that's a significant QoL boost and there are far far dumber things I've seen BigLaw associates waste money on, such as gambling, drugs, hookers, giving money away to mooching significant others, shopping addiction, etc.

[Anonymous User]

As a first year, paid $1600/month to split a 2BR in Queens, around 25 min commute into the office. Great rent obvs, but the commute was painful and annoying, even when I could expense a cab home on late nights. And others are right that it's hard to convince friends to come hang out in Queens, and the weekend subway is AWFUL.

Now, I'm paying >$4000k for a 1BR in Manhattan (Hell's Kitchen area). It's a lux building with a lot of amenities and it's obviously a very high price point, but QoL really is much better. I don't spent too much on nights out or expensive clothes or trips, so it's doable. Also, in the post-Covid world where I can expect to work from home a lot more, living in a nice building where you can make use of the full suite of perks helps justify the price point.

[Anonymous User]

Senior associate, living in a large 2 BR in LIC, paying around $4,000. In unit WD, no doorman/elevator/amenities but brand new renovated townhouse. 20 min commute to office. Only thing that sucks is lack of food options/thing to do around the area.

I've also lived in HK (with 2 roommates, paying around $1900 for lux building)