Magdalena Waz

@ThrowBigWords

Every New York City resident looks for the perfect sweet spot between commuting convenience and affordable rent. This new map from RentHop is sure to make the search for the mythically centrally-located and cheap apartment in Bushwick much easier, even as it points out to us just how much money it costs to live in this city.

RentHop relied on its own rental data and mapping software to find the median price for a one bedroom apartment one-eighth mile from each subway stop in NYC and compared those numbers to last year’s. The results are not necessarily surprising, but they certainly give us something to fume about regardless.

Looks like by and large, median prices went up from last year in all three of the neighborhoods we cover. The only two local L, J, M, or Z stops where the median price decreased were Morgan Avenue where the median price went down by 1.7% and Flushing Avenue where the decrease was only 1.1%.

The most striking median rent increases happened at the Halsey Street and Chauncey Street J stops (a 24.7% increase to $2,245 for a one bedroom and a 19.5% increase to $2,298 for a one bedroom respectively). The M train, too, saw its fair share of increases from a paltry 1.9% jump at Myrtle Avenue to an 18.3% jump over on Fresh Pond Road, where the median asking price for a one bedroom is at least still partially reasonable at $1,892.

Because of the relatively small sample sizes surrounding each stop, it’s possible that one large luxury building skewed the prices in some of these locations, but the trend is troubling and likely to continue as savvy, rich renters ditch the L train early in favor of locking in a cheaper rent in a spot with a functioning subway. 

Check out an larger, interactive map containing this data on RentHop’s website, compare your rent to anywhere else in the city, and consider whether or not its finally time to consider leaving for greener pastures. 

Featured image by Flickr user Zachvs.