Data Insights · August 2026
The conversation around the U.S. housing affordability crisis tends to focus on homebuyers. But for the millions of renters navigating the same market, the math looks different and increasingly, it ends with a roommate. We surveyed hundreds of active Diggz users between July and August 2026. What we found challenges the assumption that shared living is a temporary workaround. For most people, it’s a deliberate strategy and still for many, it’s not enough.
Finding 1
The financial pressure is overwhelming — but it’s not the whole story
We asked our users the most direct question we could: why are you looking for a roommate? Nearly three in four pointed to finances. While one in four chose shared living for reasons that have nothing to do with cost. That’s a signal that roommate culture is broader than the affordability crisis alone.
Survey conducted July-August 2026. Respondents selected one option.
The headline is that for 73% the rent is too high plus saving for a goal. But for the 27% who said companionship or being new to a city are their primary reasons they’re seeking roommates this represents something different: shared living as a lifestyle preference, not a crisis response. Both are real, and both are growing.
Finding 2
Getting a roommate helps — but for most, it isn’t enough
The standard benchmark for housing affordability is the “30% rule”: spending more than 30% of your income on housing is considered rent-burdened. We asked Diggz users what share of their take-home pay goes to their portion of rent (after splitting with a roommate). More than half are still above the threshold.
Survey conducted July-August 2026. Question specified “your portion, after splitting with your roommate.”
Because these figures are based on take-home pay, not gross income, the real burden as a share of earnings is even higher once taxes are factored in. A roommate is, for most users, a meaningful intervention. But for more than half, it hasn’t moved them out of cost-burdened territory.
Finding 3
Most people aren’t fleeing expensive cities — they’re fighting to stay in them
The assumption about the affordability crisis is that it pushes people out of major metros. Our data tells a different story. When we asked our users, who are mostly renters, how housing costs are shaping where they live, the most common answer wasn’t “I’m leaving” — it was “I got a roommate so I don’t have to.”
Survey conducted July-August 2026. Respondents selected one option.
Only 19% of respondents are being geographically displaced by housing costs, whether it’s moving to a cheaper part of town or another city entirely. The majority are using shared housing as a tool to hold their position: same city, same neighborhood, with a roommate making it possible. For these users, Diggz isn’t a moving service, but rather a staying service.
The three-part story
- 73% of roommate-seekers are driven by financial pressure — rent too high, or saving toward a goal.
- Even after splitting rent, 52% are still spending more than a third of their take-home on housing.
- Despite the strain, 56% are choosing roommates over relocation — using shared living to stay in the cities they want to be in.
“People talk about the housing crisis as a reason people are leaving cities. What we’re seeing on Diggz is the opposite; people are actually rooming up so they don’t have to leave. A roommate has become the most common way renters at any age are holding on to the neighborhoods, jobs, and homes they’ve built. The fact that more than half of them are still cost-burdened after splitting rent tells you how serious the pressure has become. Housing is has always been a big cost, it’s gotten bigger in the last 5 years. On top of that, everything else has gotten more expensive. For many, finding a roommate is the only sensible option to keep up.”
— Rany Burstein, Founder & CEO, Diggz
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