Be My Valentine… And My Roommate? Here’s How Much You Can Save By Moving In Together.

With Valentine's Day approaching, love is in the air — and what could be more romantic than potential rent savings? Whoever said distance makes the heart grow fonder clearly never heard of rent splitting. And while improving your financial situation alone may not be the best reason to move in with your significant other (see our Moving In Together Survey for more on that), it’s certainly an added bonus. In a June 2023 study of millennials and Gen Z living with a romantic partner, about half of respondents said they moved in together for financial reasons.

Sharing the cost of renting a one- or two-bedroom apartment can save you thousands of dollars in living expenses annually compared to living alone. It may even allow you to upgrade to a better property or location that you wouldn’t have been able to afford as single renter, allowing you to take some stress of your bank account while also upgrading your living situation. Plus, in a competitive rental market like Boston, MA or New York, NY, where apartments can be hard to get and even harder to pay for, pairing up with a significant other to find a place can greatly reduce the stress of apartment hunting.

If you’re interested in learning more about how much money you can save on rent by cohabitating in the 50 most expensive American cities, read on.

We analyzed our rent price data to reveal how much can be saved by cohabitating in cities across the United States, and the totals will make your heart race. The biggest savings, of course, are found in the most expensive rental cities, where the cost of living solo in a one-bedroom unit is prohibitive for many renters. Take New York City, for example, which currently tops our list as the most expensive city to live in the U.S. The median cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment alone was $4,391 per month in January. Split that 50/50 with your romantic partner, and you’ll each save $26,346 by the end of the year. Enough to shell out on flowers, chocolate, and maybe even a reservation at Carbone for Valentine’s Day — all while meeting your long-term financial goals.

In the next two most expensive cities topping our list — nearby Jersey City, NJ and Boston — you stand to save $18,438 or $17,160, respectively, by cohabitating in a one-bedroom. So, taking this big step can mean a big bonus to your savings account.

The savings opportunities are typically just as compelling when you upgrade from living alone in a one-bedroom to sharing a bigger two-bedroom. In San Francisco, CA, for example, you’d pay around $2,860 to live alone in a one-bedroom, but just $1,911 to split the cost of a two-bedroom (median rent is $3,822). Instead of paying $34,320 for the year in rent alone in a one-bedroom, you’d each individually be paying $22,932 — that’s a $11,388 difference. Plus, you’ll gain much-needed extra living space as well as extra closet space. Get creative with your extra room: Turn it into a home office or business, a guest room, or a home gym.

To find out how much you can save by shacking up in the 50 most expensive cities in the US, click here or scroll to the bottom of the page.

If you and your partner are already splitting a one-bedroom, in some cities, you can level up to a two-bedroom without breaking the bank. (The same goes for if you move into a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate, but in that case, you won’t have free rein of the second room.) In 10 of the cities that we looked at, you can upgrade from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom for less than an extra $100 per month each.

If you are currently living alone in a studio, you stand to save rent money each month even if you jump all the way to a two-bedroom with a significant other. In all of the cities for which we had adequate inventory, it was cheaper to rent a two-bedroom with a significant other than it would be to rent a studio alone (not to mention — moving in together will also help you save on other moving costs like a security deposit or household expenses like furniture, toiletries, and utilities.) Below, we highlight the 10 cities with the biggest savings when moving from solo living in a studio to sharing a two-bedroom apartment.

Feeling inspired? Check out some of our resources for couples planning to move in together for the first time. And if you’re ready to take the plunge and find your new home, let us help you find the best deal.

How much can you save in your city by cohabitating? Here’s the breakdown, based on recent median rents in the top 50 most expensive rental cities.

To determine the annual individual savings when renting a one-bedroom apartment, we took the median rent of each city for a one-bedroom apartment, assumed a 50/50 rent split, and calculated how much each individual would save when compared to the rent prices they would have paid in the same apartment, alone.

To determine the annual individual savings when upgrading from a solo one-bedroom apartment to a shared two-bedroom apartment, we took the median rent of each city for a one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment, assumed a 50/50 rent split for the two-bedroom, and calculated how much each individual would save when compared to the rent prices they would have paid for a one-bedroom apartment, alone.

To determine the annual individual savings when upgrading from a solo studio apartment to a shared two-bedroom apartment, we took the median rent of each city for a studio and a two-bedroom apartment, assumed a 50/50 split of the two-bedroom apartment, and calculated how much each individual would save when compared to the rent prices they would have paid for a studio, alone.

All costs are rounded to the nearest dollar. Rent data came from ApartmentAdvisor. For more, check out our National Rent Report, which comes out monthly, or our Market Reports, which are updated daily.