TikTok influencers on six-figure salaries say they can't afford to live in New York anymore

Content creators in New York City are running into a major problem: rent.

This past year, rent prices have skyrocketed across New York, leaving people who once could afford to live in the Big Apple, struggling.

The average rent went up 6 percent in 2022. And while the average person is struggling to find an affordable apartment, influencers and content creators are facing a different problem.

In New York City, renters are typically required to make 40x the annual rent, have a good credit score, and provide evidence of paystubs.

But since content creators do not receive an annual salary from a designated company, providing paystubs is nearly impossible.

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Speaking to the New York Post, TikTok influencer Kelsey Kotzur said she was trying to get approved for an apartment but it's "nearly impossible because no one really understands my income and what I do."

Kotzur, 29, has been pursuing influencing in New York for seven years and recently became a full-time influencer.

But this past year, Kotzur was forced to move back home after her landlord increased her rent.

Despite making $250,000 this year, Kotzur said landlords often pursue alternate tenants because they do not understand her career.

Other influencers and creatives have faced similar problems.

Influencer Marissa Meizz, 25, said she too struggled to rent an apartment in New York City because landlords did not believe in her career, despite making an estimated $100,000 this year.

“It was just so hard to get someone to trust me,” Meizz told The Post.

Meizz says she "begged" her landlord to give her the apartment.

"I wrote a cover letter, I gave every single invoice that I made in the last year, I gave them proof of my income and everything and they still said that I didn’t make enough and that I still didn’t have enough proof so they wanted a guarantor," she added.

Freelance-based workers often face this problem when trying to obtain an apartment, especially in New York.

Meizz and Kotzur said not having access to New York City could harm their content creation careers immensely, putting even more stress on obtaining an apartment.

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