New Yorkers are among the country's least satisfied renters, says study

They will never be satisfied

A new study suggests that New York City renters are not satisfied with their living situations. It is almost as though the rent is too damn high.

The study, from the apartment-searching website Abodo, analyzed data from the 2015 U.S. Census' American Housing Survey to quantify rental satisfaction in 25 cities, and scientifically determined that New Yorkers and their tri-state brethren are the 22nd least satisfied urbanites, out-miseried only by Angelenos (#23), Clevelanders (#24), and Memphians (#25).

Residents of Raleigh, on the other hand, are exceptionally satisfied—the city ranks first overall—followed by Kansas City dwellers (#2), and folks smugly settled in DC and the surrounding area (#3).

Total collective (dis)satisfaction was measured on two scales: neighborhood satisfaction, which looked at how renters had rated their area in terms of crime, school quality, public transportation, and litter; and home satisfaction, which considered classic issues like rodents, roaches, heating, mold, leaks, and "missing walls and holes in the roof."

Here is the good news: New Yorkers—a designation, for these purposes, that also includes Newark and Jersey City—were, on the whole, moderately enthusiastic about their neighborhoods. The metro area ranks 11th in terms of neighborhood satisfaction. It's no Raleigh, of course, which again ranks number one (followed by DC, Kansas City, and Boston, in that order), but it is far better than Memphis, which again comes in last.

New York renters, however, are notably less happy with their actual apartments. On that score, the city ranks 21st in terms of satisfaction, and in fact scored the worst in two categories: "being uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more" as well as "not having a working toilet at some point in the last three months." Houston came in last, on account of the number of renters who reported the most broken/boarded up windows, missing wall material, and mold. The winner was Miami, followed, again, by Raleigh.

In a surprise twist, New Yorkers did not suffer from the most roach infestations; that honor went to residents of Houston, New Orleans, and Miami, though it remains the country's number one champion in terms of rats.

• The Nation's Most Satisfied Renters are in Raleigh, NC [Abodo]