Living rooms vanish as roommates pack in
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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
High rent is killing America's living rooms: A quarter of shared rental listings on SpareRoom last year came without access to one.
Why it matters: That's up from 9% five years ago, data shows. Many roommates are trading shared space for lower per-person housing costs.
Between the lines: In some cases, what was once a living room has been physically converted into an extra bedroom.
- Renters are leasing individual rooms — with access to the kitchen and bathroom but no shared common area — to save money, according to SpareRoom, a roommate matching site.
- Packing more bedrooms into an apartment lets landlords spread rents across more people, potentially lowering the cost per renter.
The big picture: In places like ultra-pricey New York City, dividing living space to create another bedroom isn't new, though local rules vary.
- And the trend has spread: The share of SpareRoom listings without living room access is high in major metro areas including Miami (32%), Orlando, Florida (30%), Denver (30%), Phoenix (29%) and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (29%).
Yes, but: Losing communal areas can strain roommate relationships and weigh on renters' mental health.
What they're saying: "We know roommates who've forged lifelong friendships, got married, started businesses and become godparents to their roommates' kids," SpareRoom's Matt Hutchinson tells Axios.
- "If you strip away the space for these things to flourish, you take away the biggest benefit" of living in a shared apartment.
By the numbers: The typical U.S. asking rent was roughly $1,900 in January, up 2% from a year earlier, according to Zillow data.
- Rents have soared 35% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fine print: SpareRoom's analysis is based on listings for spare rooms and rooms in shared apartments posted on the site between January and November 2025.
What we're watching: Outside the living room, more young people are gathering at puzzle competitions, music bingo nights and other low-key events, per a new Eventbrite report.
