Rent an apartment or Eat?… Better Live with your Parents

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The problems facing millions of Californians are heightened among millennials.

Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and three other California cities have some of the biggest millennial renter wage gaps in the country — the gap being the difference between what the typical worker can afford versus the average rental costs.

Of the California cities, L.A. has the biggest rent wage gap for millennials, followed by San Diego in third place, San Francisco in fifth, San Jose in seventh, Riverside in eighth and Sacramento in 12th, according to an analysis and using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey Public Use Micro-data Sample.

In L.A., the millennial wage gap was minus 49.5% in 2020, with millennial renters making a median wage of $36,649, according to the analysis. However, renters needed an average wage of $72,560 to pay for a one-bedroom rental. The median rent for a one-bedroom was about $1,814; about 35.6% of millennials in the city were renters.

San Diego also had a lofty millennial renter wage gap at minus 39.9%. The average wage millennials would need to make in order to afford a one-bedroom was $69,720, even though the renter median wage was $41,885. In San Diego, 34.2% of millennials were renters.

Meanwhile, Riverside’s millennial renter wage gap was minus 34.5%, with millennials having to make an average of $47,960 to pay for a one-bedroom. In actuality, they made a median wage of $31,414.

This has forced young people to seek other alternatives, including living with their parents.

Nearly a decade removed from the depths of the Great Recession, a staggering 38 percent of California’s 18 to 34-year-olds still live with their parents, according to U.S. Census data. That’s roughly 3.6 million people stuck at home. Think of it this way: If “unlaunched” California millennials formed their own state, they would be entitled to more electoral votes than Connecticut, Iowa or Utah. If they formed their own city, it would be the third largest in the country.