Housing is one of most Americans' biggest monthly expenditures, and many people struggle to put no more than 30 percent of their annual household income toward it, the way experts recommend.
But if you've ever watched an episode of a sitcom like NBC's "Friends" or HBO's "Sex in the City," you know that many of America's favorite fictional characters, especially the ones who live in big cities, don't seem to have to worry about finding an affordable place to live.
To determine whether or not popular TV characters would actually be able to afford their homes, apartment finding website RENTCafe compared how much characters from shows such as "The Big Bang Theory" and "Grey's Anatomy" would earn to what they would pay in rent. The full methodology is available here.
Of all the characters from all the shows analyzed, New Yorker George Costanza from NBC's "Seinfeld" is farthest in the red. "Earning roughly $30,000 a year at Kruger Industrial Smoothing, we estimate his apartment in the Big Apple would set him back over $3,700 a month — or 149 percent of his monthly income," RENTCafe reports.
Characters from more affordable cities can fare better. Jim and Pam Halpert from NBC's "The Office," for example, only spend around 18 percent of their annual income on housing, RENTCafe estimates, putting the couple well within the 30 percent rule.
Below, check out how your favorite characters stack up. Click to enlarge.
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