Mia lives in Waco. Madeleine lives in Brooklyn. They each make around $32,000 a year. How far does their money go?
Chris Ritter / BuzzFeed
Despite New York City's reputation for being the most expensive city in the nation, recent college graduates swarm the city each summer, looking for jobs, apartments, and the start of a new, glamorous life.
Considering the average apartment in Brooklyn is now reported at $3,035, it's not always easy to establish yourself.
Twenty-two-year-old Madeleine Harrington of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, makes slightly less than Brooklyn's average median income of $32,135, racking in $31,000 a year working two part-time jobs. Harrington also pays less in rent than Brooklyn's average: Her home costs only $2,000 a month. Still out of her price range, the two-bedroom apartment has been converted into a three-bedroom, although the additional room is "questionable." There are no walls, and you have to walk through it to reach the bathroom.
While this might be standard for a NYC lifestyle, it is an anomaly in other parts of the country: In Waco, Texas, for example, the average cost of a two-bedroom apartment is just $683. Mia Francis, 22, of Waco, makes well over her city's average of $26,264, pulling in $33,000 a year, and is able to live in a spacious three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, equipped with a backyard, patio, washing machine, and a driveway for her car. The monthly rent is $900, and she splits it evenly with her fiancé.
Of course, there are incredible opportunities in New York City and other big cities that are unavailable elsewhere. Is the payoff worth it?
Here is how Mia and Madeleine live off their average salaries of $32,000.
Mia Francis, 22, Waco, Texas
Via Handout / Mia Francis
Waco, located in between Dallas and Austin, has a population of approximately 124,805.
