Seems accurate to me. Local average individual income where I live is about $48,000 or $41,000 after-tax. 25% of that leaves you ~$850/month for rent. I see all

Seems accurate to me. Local average individual income where I live is about $48,000 or $41,000 after-tax. 25% of that leaves you ~$850/month for rent. I see all kinds of listings at $575/month not including utilities. Assuming the parent is including utilities, $275/month for those should be sufficient. I know that would not be possible in all markets, but it would take the same HN bias you mentioned to think that everyone lives in SF or NYC.