It doesn't pay to be single: Coupled-up New York renters can save up to $39,000 a year if they move in with a partner

Single New Yorkers may be interested in real estate.

A new study shows that a New York City couple would save $28,800 a year if they lived in a one-bedroom apartment. The most savings potential exists for couples in Manhattan, where rent is the most expensive. Couples living together in that area typically save as much as $19,500 each. A couple can save as much as $23,400 a year in Queens, $26,400 in Brooklyn, $20,400 in the Bronx and $18,000 in Staten Island.

It is one way to save on rent without sacrificing amenities, location, or square footage, according to a study.

The median, citywide, one-bedroom rental price at the end of 2021, was $2,400. New York has one of the highest median rental prices for a one bedroom in the US. This study comes as rents get more expensive everywhere in the country, and as Manhattan recovers from low prices that led people to snap up inexpensive leases that are about to expire, opening up a New York market that is getting pricey again.

It is more expensive to be single in the current economy than it is to be married, and the tax code favors married couples.

Pandemic rent deals are ending, and couples may fare better 

In January last year, rents and sales in NYC fell dramatically, opening a rare window in the city's notoriously expensive housing market. Many people upgraded to luxury leases and bought homes below asking price.

The median sale price of condominiums and co-ops rose to its highest level in two years in the second quarter of 2021, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel.

The StreetEasy report says that couples renting together will have an expanded set of location options, even if their individual budgets are the same.

If you want to live closer to Midtown, a combined rental budget of $1,600 each will get you there, according to the report.

In the long term, couples who cohabitate can also move toward homeownership faster than their single peers, given how much they would save over a few years: a couple that banks $28,800 in yearly savings, for instance, could accrue a 20% down payment on the median asking

The financial gap between single people and individuals in relationships is highlighted in the report. The biggest financial gap is faced by single women who have less cushion from the gender wage gap.