Living alone in New York City still requires a very Carrie Bradshaw-sized fantasy budget — or, more realistically, a six-figure salary.
A solo renter in New York would need to earn $153,600 a year before taxes to comfortably afford the city’s typical studio, according to The Economist’s latest “Carrie Bradshaw Index,” named for the “Sex and the City” heroine famous for living alone in Manhattan on a columnist’s salary.
The typical studio payment in New York is $3,840 a month, according to the index, which assumes renters should spend no more than 30% of their gross income on housing.
The index is named after Carrie Bradshaw and her famously enviable Manhattan apartment. HBO
Solo renting is getting easier — almost everywhere else
There is better news for renters nationally.
The number of America’s 100 biggest cities that the index considers unaffordable for an average earner has fallen to 30 — the lowest since The Economist began the index three years ago.
Nationwide, renters who want to live alone now need to earn about $150 less per month than they did a year ago.
A surge of newly completed apartments has helped ease the squeeze. The US added 695,000 apartments in 2024 — a 40-year record — followed by another 531,000 in 2025, according to The Economist.
At the same time, softer demand has helped slow rent growth and prompted landlords to dangle incentives such as free months or waived fees.
An apartment-building boom has helped ease the pressure on renters in many US cities. Savvapanf Photo ̩ Рstock.adobe.com
Just 30 of America’s 100 largest cities are unaffordable for solo renters. Studio Romantic – stock.adobe.com
The improvement has been particularly noticeable in some smaller and less expensive markets. Cities including Oklahoma City and Lexington, Ky., posted some of the biggest affordability gains, while 11 cities crossed into affordable territory.
New York, however, remains at the opposite extreme.
Carrie’s apartment remains a New York fantasy
That makes the index’s namesake especially fitting.
Carrie Bradshaw famously lived by herself in a rent-controlled Upper East Side apartment despite working primarily as a newspaper columnist — a lifestyle that has long raised questions about how she actually paid for it.
An inside look at Carrie Bradshaw’s studio apartment. Kate Glicksberg/Airbnb
New York remains the priciest city with a typical studio costing about $3,840 a month. J-L Fl̩mal РBE Рstock.adobe.com
And the national rental reprieve may prove temporary. The Economist notes that new construction starts have fallen sharply from their 2022 level and are now at their lowest quarterly total since 2011, potentially limiting future supply.
For now, solo renters across much of America are finally catching a break.
New Yorkers hoping to trade in their roommates for their own Carrie Bradshaw apartment? Not so much.