With rent and cost of living rising, older city dwellers look to live with others to save money. Is getting a roommate the future of retirement?

Indeed, the number of adults 65 and over looking for a roommate has tripled in the past decade, according to research from roommate-matching site SpareRoom (1).

James Jones, a senior who rents an apartment in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York City, told ABC 7 New York that he's looking for a roommate through the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens' Home Sharing Program (a free service for seniors).

"It would help me to catch up on bills, pay my credit cards off," Jones said.

While housing affordability is an issue across the country, it's particularly challenging in urban areas with low vacancy rates, like New York City.

Brad Greenburg, executive director of NYU's Furman Center, told ABC 7 New York that NYC has a vacancy rate of just 1.4%. And, while there's already a shortage of housing options out there, 62% of older New Yorkers are "rent-burdened," meaning they're spending more than 30% of their income on housing (2).

With rent going up faster than inflation, are roommates the only option for seniors on a limited or fixed income?

The housing affordability crisis for seniors

About one in three homeowners over 65 in the U.S. are cost-burdened, and the figure is rising, according to the State of the Nation's Housing 2025 report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Well over half (58%) of older renters were cost-burdened in 2023 — with the majority considered "severely" cost-burdened. "Older renters are more likely to live on fixed incomes that may not keep up with rising rents," according to the report. And cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance aren't helping matters.

While there's a high homeownership rate among older adults in the U.S., many are also facing affordability challenges. The number of older homeowners who are considered cost-burdened rose from 24% to 28% from 2019 to 2023, according to the State of the Nation's Housing 2025 report (3).

This can be attributed to a number of factors, including high home prices and interest rates, rising insurance premiums and property taxes, as well as "the increasing likelihood of an economic downturn."

In addition, rents "hit record highs in many major metropolitan areas in 2025, and there have been no significant decreases in rents," according to SpareRoom's rental index (4).

That could help explain why seniors (aged 65+) are the fastest-growing age group in the roommate market, with the second-highest increase among those aged 55 to 64, according to SpareRoom.

"Renting is no longer just a stepping-stone to homeownership. For many, especially those nearing retirement without sufficient savings, it's becoming a long-term financial necessity," Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said in a statement (5).

Are you going to need a roommate in retirement?

The "three-legged stool" of retirement planning has traditionally consisted of Social Security, employee pensions and personal savings. But pensions aren't common anymore — only 15% of private industry workers had access to a defined-benefit plan in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (6).

So that three-legged stool is more like a wobbly two-legged stool that needs to be propped up with additional personal savings, such as 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). You may want to consult with a qualified financial advisor who can work with you to formulate a plan and structure your portfolio to help meet your future retirement goals.

But if you're nearing retirement and worry you haven't saved enough — like two-thirds (66%) of Gen Xers, according to a 2025 retirement study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement (7) — you may want to consider delaying retirement or transitioning to part-time work before full retirement.

You can take your Social Security retirement benefit as early as age 62, but you'll receive a permanently reduced benefit — by as much as 30% — up until you reach your FRA, or full retirement age, which is 67 for most people (8).

You can also boost your benefit if you delay taking it until after your FRA, up until age 70, which adds about 8% annually in delayed retirement credits (9).

If you delay retirement, you can also ramp up your personal savings — particularly if your employer matches them. If you participate in a 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457 plan, the annual contribution limit for 2026 is $24,500, while the annual contribution limit for an IRA is $7,500 (10).