Dive Brief:
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Some young IT professionals in San Francisco are sharing living quarters with as many as 40 other people despite the high salaries many of them command, according to a Reuters report.
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In San Francisco, shared living spaces are the result of high rents and an ongoing apartment shortage, though residents of such "communes" may still pay rents close to $2,000 for a one-bedroom or even a shared room, according to the report.
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Such properties are set up to house a large number of people and are often located in run-down neighborhoods occupied by low-income populations.
Dive Insight:
It’s quite the oxymoron that the highest paid tech professionals in the country are bunking up to make rent. San Francisco saw the biggest year-over-year salary increase for tech workers, with a gain of 3.28%, according to Hired's global look at tech salaries, but that doesn’t mean the tech professionals that reside there are living large.
After adjusting for San Francisco’s astronomical cost of living, cities like Seattle and Austin are often more cost effective, even with slightly lower salaries for tech workers.
But not everyone wants to live with 40 roommates. And tech companies are tired of competing for talent, so tech workers and tech companies alike are now checking out new areas. Cities like Dallas, Kansas City, Atlanta, Phoenix and St. Louis are now proving to be fertile ground for the next wave of tech work.
