“Millennial moochers” are on the rise, according to Zumper. (Credit: iStock)
Los Angeles is often billed as a place where young people can start a new life and leave behind their past. One thing a chunk of Millennials seem to be holding onto: part of their parents’ bank accounts to help pay the rent.
Some 12 percent of renters in Los Angeles get help with their rent from mom and dad, one of the highest percentages in the country, according to a new survey by rental platform Zumper. That means that parents chip in $170 each month for rent based on the median rent among respondents nationwide.
Ten percent of renters in Chicago get some help from mom and dad, while only 8 percent of New Yorkers and 5 percent of San Francisco renters surveyed are mooching off their parents.
With the escalating cost of the country’s largest cities such as L.A. and New York, the issue of how much renters are leaning on their families for support has become a much-studied topic. Zumper, which surveyed 5,339 renters across the country with a median age of 34, found that the level of reliance by “Millennial moochers,” in particular, is worsening.
Zumper cited California overall as the most extreme state in the country, since it had the most amount of cities — four — on the list of places where parental assistance was highest. Nearby, Long Beach, with 14 percent, has an even higher percentage of moochers than Los Angeles.
Overall, 8 percent of renters surveyed by Zumper said they got rent help from their parents. Around three in four respondents were women and just over half had some college education. Median annual income was $58,000.
Detroit, which is among the least-affluent big cities in the country, led the country in moochers with 24 percent. Austin, Texas, came in second place at 23 percent.
L.A. and New York are consistently among the most expensive rental markets in the country. After years of solid rent growth, increases have started to slow in recent months around the country, a welcome sign of relief for renters.
But L.A. respondents to the survey pay 39 percent of their income on rent, compared to 30 percent of New Yorkers surveyed.
Zumper also found that more people are living with their parents, a situation that is particularly acute among the youngest renters. The percentage of renters 18 to 24 years still sleeping at mom and dad’s place old jumped to 24 percent, up from 17 percent in 2017.
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