Solo Philly renters pay a ‘singles tax’ that costs them thousands. They’d pay three times more in New York.
Solo renters pay a yearly premium for living alone in a one-bedroom apartment. But the “singles tax” in Philly is less than in many other big cities and in the country as a whole, according to Zillow.
How much is the luxury of living alone worth? In Philadelphia, it’s about $6,200, on average.
That’s how much more a year the city’s solo renters pay for a one-bedroom apartment, compared with the price that two people would each pay splitting the rent, according to an analysis of 2023 rents by Zillow. The higher price for solo renters is referred to as a “singles tax.”
The $6,185 price tag for solitude is about the same — $41 less — compared with the previous year.
Philadelphia renters pay a smaller premium for solo living than renters in many other big cities and the country as a whole. The national “singles tax” is about $7,100.
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Philadelphia’s rents are relatively affordable compared with rents in other big cities. But Philadelphians’ low incomes can make paying for housing difficult and force residents to double up, even if they would rather not.
Renters who might be able to afford to live alone weigh the freedom of living without a roommate against the extra money they will have to shell out for their sanctuary.
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It’s unsurprising that New York has the biggest “singles tax.” Solo renters there pay $20,100 more a year for a one-bedroom. With the total rent they pay, they could rent two apartments in Philadelphia.
Of the country’s 50 biggest cities, 31 have a bigger “singles tax” than Philadelphia. New York is one of seven cities in which solo renters pay more than $10,000 more a year. San Francisco has the second highest singles tax at more than $13,400.
Louisville, Ky.; Kansas City, Mo.; Fresno, Calif.; San Antonio, Texas; and Baltimore are among the cities where, like Philadelphia, solo renters pay a yearly premium of $6,000 to $6,250 for living alone.
Of the 50 largest cities, solo renters in Detroit pay the lowest premium per year — about $4,300 — to live alone. Buffalo, Memphis, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee round out the bottom five.
Zillow used a combination of data from the Census Bureau and from its own website to look at average rents in 2023 for one-bedroom rentals.