NYers Need This Much Cash To Get Through The Holidays: Study

NEW YORK — The holidays are good for New Yorkers' hearts but bad for their wallets. The average renter in the city needs a nest egg about 10 times bigger than the national average to make it through the holiday season, a recent PropertyShark report shows.

The real estate website determined how big of a financial hole Americans dig themselves into during the last two months of the year based on renters' incomes, rent, cost of living and extra holiday expenses.

Renters in New York City have a median income of $8,000 for two months but pay an average of $7,600 in rent, the report says. That's on top of $3,300 in other living expenses and $1,300 in holiday costs such as gifts, decorations and sweets, according to PropertyShark.

That means the average New York renter needs $4,200 in savings to make it through the holiday season, the report shows.

That's the largest amount among the nation's 20 biggest metro areas and more than twice the $1,700 average deficit in San Diego, which had the second-deepest hole.

By contrast, the average American renter earning a median of $6,500 for two months needs just $400 in savings for the season after spending $2,800 on rent, $3,000 on other living expenses and $1,100 on holiday costs, PropertyShark says.

Renters in Seattle were best off with a $1,700 surplus, the report shows.

Read the full report here to find out how other big cities fared.

(Lead image: Photo by Cultura/Shutterstock)