Woman Moves From High-Cost City for Cheaper Rent, Finds $1,600 Apartment—’I Didn’t Know Rent Was High Everywhere’

A woman shared a video about the high cost of rent after moving from a big city to a smaller town. Even after leaving a major city, she says she has continued to struggle with rent, prompting a discussion online about how rental prices compare across different parts of the country.

“I think I’ve discovered that I’m stupid,” the woman says in the video. “I knew there was a rent crisis going on, I know that rent is high everywhere, but I didn’t know that rent is high everywhere.”

She shares how she recently moved out of a big city in hopes of finding cheaper rent, but realized it was expensive everywhere. “For the majority of my adult life, I’ve lived in very high cost of living areas. I live on the West Coast, and I lived in Seattle most recently,” adding, “Like, obviously those places are more expensive to live in, but you also get paid a higher wage.”

Where she was living before, the minimum wage was $21 an hour. This helped her pay the more expensive rent. However, now that she’s in a smaller town, the pay is worse, and she is struggling to get by.

When she realized a one-bedroom apartment cost $1,600 in her new town, she thought it must be because wages were high. She didn't realize that the cost to rent an apartment was the same everywhere, even if their minimum wage was lower.

She Says Rent Remains High Outside Major Cities

“Now, I’m in Michigan visiting my family, and one of my friends just moved, and her apartment is $1,500, but mimum wage here is only $13 dollars an hour,” she added, “I knew rent was expensive but I figured if your minimum wage was only $13 an hour, clearly your apartments would kind of reflect that.”

She adds that she knew it would be expensive everywhere, but doesn’t understand why it doesn’t align more with the pay in that area. She was confused that living in the suburbs of Michigan was the same price as a major city like Seattle.

Rent, she learned quickly, doesn’t vary between location and wages. This was shocking to her, and people on X had a lot to say about it.

In the comment section, some shared their own experiences with rent. “2 bedroom duplex in a nice area of Austin $1,200/mo 2010. Same duplex 2026 $2,400/mo. Wages the same,” one person noted about the change to the cost of living in their city. Another chimed in, "In Oklahoma, the minimum wage is still $ 1200-$1500 in my hometown for a 1br1ba.”

Her comments prompted others to share their own experiences with rising housing costs. The comments reflect broader concerns about the affordability of rent.

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the woman's claims about rental prices or her personal financial circumstances. The story is based on her account shared in the video and comments from users on X.