Can You Afford to Live In Manhattan?

Rents in New York City are something of a nightmare, and they just keep on going up. And to underscore that point, just take a peak at this map from Thrillist showing Manhattan rents by subway stop. It's enough to make aspiring young hopefuls everywhere give up on their dreams on living in the Big Apple — and prompt those of us who are already here wonder why we don't find something for half the price and twice the closet space somewhere else.

The map, which only covers Manhattan (so don't expect to see Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island here), shows the price of an average apartment per bedroom within a quarter mile of each subway station. So there might very well be places that have fabulously low rents — or, as the rest of the world might call it, reasonable rents — tucked away here and there; on average, though, what the map shows is about what you're likely to get.

Of course, you could try your luck at finding a place more than a quarter mile away from any subway station, which would probably be cheaper. But then, you'll also have to live more than a quarter mile from a subway station. New York is all about hard choices.

So what are some of the cheapest and priciest subway stops to live near in Manhattan? Here are just a few.

Cheapest: 175th Street — A

Living uptown has its advantages — like, for instance, the fact that finding a one bedroom for less than $2,000 a month south of 96th street is not something you should bank on. Living near the 175th Street stop on the A train, however, should put your monthly rent around $1,132 per bedroom. You can do worse in New York. Such as...

Priciest: 14 Street-Union Square — N, Q, R, 4, 5, 6, L

Unsurprisingly, being close to multiple subway lines is great for getting places, but not so great for your bank account. If you want to live within a quarter mile of Union Square, expect to be paying around $2,749 a month per bedroom.

Cheapest: 137 Street-City College — 1

This far west, you might only have one subway option, and you might have to put up with occasionally catching a glimpse of New Jersey — but you'll also only be paying $1,019 a month per bedroom on average. At least there's that.

Priciest: 59 Street-Columbus Circle — A, C, B, D, 1

Being close to Central Park plus five subway lines has its price... and that price is an average per-bedroom rent of $2,893 a month.

Cheapest: Harlem-148 Street — 3

Rents at the end of the 3 are apparently the cheapest you'll find within a quarter mile of any subway station in the city. They still aren't below $1,000 per bedroom, but they do get close — $1,002 dollars on average.

Priciest: 5 Avenue/59 Street — N, Q, R

Located on the southeastern corner of Central Park, rents within a quarter mile of this subway stop are, on average, the city's most expensive. If you want to live here, it will apparently cost you an average of $2,990 per bedroom every month.

To see the rest of the rents in New York, you can check out the full size map here, or see average rents along specific subway lines at Thrillist's website here.

Images: Getty Images (6)