Rent in the USA

I’ve been hearing that people have to pay around $2500 in rent alone in the USA, so I did a quick search and saw many listings of 2bd/1ba (at the very least) rentals listed at $800-$1200 in Los Angeles. They were looking good too, furniture was nice.

So my question is, where the $2500 comes from? I’ve never checked it before.

Could be New York City and the surrounding areas?

On Sep 17, 2026, Kathy said:

Could be New York City and the surrounding areas?

I just checked that at the same site - 1bd/1ba easily go for around $1300-$1400 and 2bd for around $1800-1900. Probably can find them for a bit cheaper, but that’s just a quick search. I’ve been hearing it from people all over the USA, not just NYC.

On Sep 17, 2026, Yarik said:

I just checked that at the same site - 1bd/1ba easily go for around $1300-$1400 and 2bd for around $1800-1900. Probably can find them for a bit cheaper, but that’s just a quick search. I’ve been hearing it from people all over the USA, not just NYC.

Apartments dot com gives the rent for a studio at $3,398 average.

On Sep 17, 2026, Kathy said:

Apartments dot com gives the rent for a studio at $3,398 average.

Well, average is high because of the many listings that are priced insanely. But I just used the low to high search option and looked at the cheapest ones. Of course there are listings that go well above $6000/mo too.

I know it's about that in the San Fransisco area.

In New Zealand you could easily pay $500-600 NZD per week for a 2 bedroom house.

Places are demanding 3X the rent for decent places, but a lone income from working at a restaurant or grocery store won't cut it. And this is even in rural areas - unless the area is incredibly isolated

On Sep 19, 2026, Jason said:

Places are demanding 3X the rent for decent places, but a lone income from working at a restaurant or grocery store won't cut it. And this is even in rural areas - unless the area is incredibly isolated

How much usually a worker in a restaurant takes home after all taxes? I mean working as a waiter. And what about a cashier in a grocery shop?