Student.com Reveals the World's Most Expensive and Affordable Cities for Student Housing

LONDON, May 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• New York, Boston and London rank as the world's most expensive cities for students.
• The average weekly spend on rent across 92 cities worldwide is approximately $218 USD per week.
• London, Los Angeles and Sydney were the most popular destinations booked by Student.com users in the UK, the USA and Australia respectively.

Student.com, the world's largest marketplace for student accommodation, today released the Cities in Focus: Global Student Accommodation Indicator - a report revealing the world's most expensive and affordable cities for student housing.

The report analyses weekly rent spend by students who booked accommodation in 92 cities worldwide last year via Student.com. On average, students in New York, Boston and London spend the most on their accommodation rent globally, whilst students in Auburn (Alabama), Athens (Georgia), and Tallahassee (Florida) spend the least. In New York, students spend on average $431 USD per week on their rent, 98 percent higher than the global average. In terms of countries, average weekly rent spend is highest in Australia - 23 percent above the global average.

"It's evident that the big urban centres around the world remain huge magnets for both international and domestic students. On average, students pay more to live in these cities, but that's not to say that there aren't more affordable options available," said Luke Nolan, Founder and CEO, Student.com. "Across Australia, the UK and the US, cities with larger supplies of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) tend to be, on average, more affordable than cities that are under supplied. As the PBSA market grows, we'll continue to see a more diversified range of options that cater to different budgets."

In addition to the global rankings, the report also includes country data for the UK, the US and Australia. In terms of total bookings, London, Los Angeles and Sydney are the most popular cities in the UK, the USA and Australia respectively.

Top 10 Most Expensive Cities (Global)

             Average Weekly Rental Spend
    #     City        Country         (USD)
    1   New York        USA            431
    2   Boston          USA            403
    3   London          UK             359
    4   Washington      USA            329
    5   La Jolla        USA            298
    6   Oxford          UK             288
    7   Sydney          AUS            285
    8   Cambridge       UK             272
    9   Los Angeles     USA            263
    10  Seattle         USA            260

Top 10 Most Affordable Cities (Global)

            Average Weekly Rental Spend
    #   City       Country          (USD)
    1  Auburn        USA              96
    2  Athens        USA             104
    3  Tallahassee   USA             106
    4  Hull          UK              111
    5  Norman        USA             112
    6  Gainesville   USA             114
    7  Bloomington   USA             118
    8  Columbia      USA             121
    9  Dundee        UK              122
    10 Sunderland    UK              123

"We speak to students around the world every day and our biggest piece of advice is always: start your search as early as possible. By planning ahead and exploring the market, students can find quality accommodation that fits within their budgets - even in cities that are more expensive than average," commented Nolan.  

To view the full report, visit: http://www.student.com/articles/cities-in-focus

Methodology

The results in this report are gleaned from a representative sample size of more than 8,000 international students who booked accommodation in 92 cities around the world via Student.com from 1 November 2015 till 31 October 2016. Bookings included in the sample were academic lets for stays of 40 or more weeks. Rental prices were converted into USD at the time of booking, based on current exchange rates.

About Student.com

Student.com is the world's largest marketplace for international student accommodation. The company seeks to simplify booking accommodation for international students through a free-to-use global marketplace which puts security and ease-of-use first. Every landlord listed has a contractual relationship with Student.com, ensuring additional security and peace of mind, and students have access to local knowledge of destination countries, as well as a team of multilingual booking experts. Student.com lists properties in over 400 cities across 29 countries. Last year, Student.com took bookings from students in over 120 countries worldwide. To date, the company has raised $70 million from investors including VY Capital, Li Ka-Shing's Horizons Ventures, Expa, Spotify founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, Hugo Barra of Xiaomi and Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Adon Lawley
adon.lawley@student.com
+44(0)203-817-0082