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Just Graduated From College? If You're Planning To Rent, Start Looking For Roommates

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Congratulations! You've just graduated from college, landed a job, and you're ready to take on the world. You may want to take on a roommate, or two, if you are planning to rent an apartment.

The real estate experts at Trulia have crunched some serious numbers and come up with the percentage of affordable rentals for college grads in America's 25 largest rental markets. They based that number on the median income for graduates in each city. Then, they came up with how much you'd really need to earn to afford a place in that area. If you don't make enough, they even calculated how many roommates you will need to get by. Mind you, these numbers assume you wouldn't use more than a third of your salary to pay rent and insurance.

Six-Figures In San Francisco

Unless you've landed a job that pays $137,272 a year, you won't be able to comfortably afford San Francisco's median rent of $3,500. The reality is most newly-minted grads will pull down about a third of that salary, so only 3.9% of the rentals are within reach.

The solution? Sharing. Trulia says you need to live with 2.3 roommates to afford to live in The City by the Bay. How you come up with one-third of a person is up to you.


Love Saint Louis?

The most affordable spot for a college grad looking for a pad is Saint Louis, Missouri. More than 18% of the rentals are affordable. The median rent in this town is $868, and in a perfect world you'd earn $34,053 a year to pay it. That's still more than the median salary of $25,778 for local college graduates. Trulia says you only need .3 roommates to make ends meet in St. Louis. Ask a recent graduate in San Francisco how to come up with a third of a person.

Here is the list (click to enlarge):

Pads for Grads 2015

(credit: Trulia)

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