All Friends characters can afford the apartments they live in!!

So I saw this post on this sub, about how Monica can afford her apartment due to being rent controlled, and how the person who made the post was sick of people thinking that Monica couldn’t afford the apartment despite being mentioned several times that it is rent controlled, and I saw some comments were it said some Friends like Chandler and Joey can’t afford to live in they’re apartment and Phoebe can’t afford to live in her apartment, and that got me thinking whether all of them can afford to do so, and guess what, they all can.

First of all, let me start this by saying, at the end of the day Friends is a TV show/sitcom and it is FICTION, it’s not meant to be realistic and show what your life would look like living in New York, if the show was meant to be realistic, then a lot of the things the group ends up doing it simply wouldn’t be possible to do, and some purchases the group makes or the places were the group spends money on, they just wouldn’t be able to based on the professions they have if it was real life. If you really start nitpicking on the show, and start wondering whether this is realistic or that is realistic, you simply wouldn’t be able to enjoy this show, or a lot of other shows and movies, so just want to make sure that everyone understands that.

Having said that, one thing that I do believe is realistic to a certain extent, is the apartments that all Friends characters live in, and I genuinely believe based on they’re professions and what they do, all of them can afford they’re apartments. Let’s start.

Monica and Rachel - when it comes to these 2 they can afford the apartments they live in, believe it or not, as mentioned by the OP who inspired this post, Monica’s apartment is rent controlled, thanks to her grandma, and it’s mentioned several times throughout the show that the apartment is rent controlled such as in S4 Episode 4, as well as in Episode 2 in S1, if my memory serves me correct, Monica even jokes about it the apartment being too expensive for her to afford if it wasn’t rent controlled, so Monica clearly is able to afford the rent, thanks to being it rent controlled.

Phoebe - Her situation is also talked about online on how is she able to afford her apartment by working as massage therapist, her apartment seems to be located around East Village and it has 2 bedrooms, her rent would be around upwards of $2k so at the higher end it would be $24k. Working as massage therapist in the 90s in NYC she would likely be earning around $25k-$30k, based on the rent and her salary, she clearly couldn’t afford her apartment. However, she moved in with her grandma, who lived alone up until she moved in, and even though it isn’t mentioned, u can assume the apartment was rent controlled making the rent around $500-$700, and even if she payed all the rent by herself, she could comfortably afford, but even if the apartment wasn’t rent controlled and she payed half the rent, at the higher end Phoebe would have to pay around $1k in rent so $12k annually, and her likely earning $25k a year means she can afford it, she likely wouldn’t have a lot of money left, like she does in the show, but she would be able to afford the apartment.

Chandler and Joey - they lived right next door to Monica and Rachel, but they’re apartment wasn’t as good or spacious, but considering the location the apartment was also a 2 bed though much smaller, they’re rent would’ve been around $1.5k-$2k a month. When it comes to rent, even though Joey likely contributed to a certain extent, I don’t think he made enough or had regular work to pay half the rent and coz of that Chandler was the one who payed all the rent, and as u know throughout the show Chandler does help Joey a lot financially, so him paying the rent all by himself makes sense. When it comes to his job he worked as a transporter (data processing - statistical analysis and data reconfiguration to be more precise), he likely was earning around $50k, and based on the rent even if he pays all by himself, the rent would be $24k which he clearly can afford all by himself.

Additionally, he gets a promotion in S1 E15, making his salary likely increase to $60k-$70k, especially because Phoebe worked as Chandler’s secretary for one episode, and we could clearly see his office was in the New York skyline and was spacious, so safe to assume his job was that of a senior level, makes sense coz he got a promotion, and he likely was earning upward of $70k likely even at $80k based on the seniority of his role and the job he did, so Chandler and Joey can also afford the apartment thanks to Chandler. Even though Joey likely contributed once he got cast in the hit soap opera DOUL, coz the show was extremely famous and he was one of the leads, he likely made well over $100k, but a lot of that he just spent it, because he got his own apartment and then obviously removed from the show going back to living with Chandler.

ROSS - the man himself, Ross the divorce force, he had various living arrangements, because he had to get his own apartment once he got divorced, then it’s also mentioned he rented the apartment from Emily’s family (I think it was her cousins, but not sure), obviously lives with Chandler and Joey for a brief period, and then finally from S5 E7 and onwards, he moves across from the house were Monica lived. His rent for the apartment once he moved out from Carol’s was likely around $1.5k at the higher, we did get to see it in couple of episodes and likely was a one bedroom, so his annual rent would’ve been around $15k, when he lived in the apartment of Emily’s relatives, we don’t get to see the apartment or are even told when he was with Emily, so it’s hard to guess the rent, but a rough guess/assumption of rent still being $15k is pretty safe. At this point he was working as a palaeontologist in a museum, and was likely earning around $45k-$55k and based on that figure he can clearly afford the rent of the apartment he lived in. Later he did move on to the house across Monica, who’s rent was likely around $2.5k or $25k annually even at the higher end, and him still earning that $45k-$55k he could still afford the rent, but around S6, he did also get a job as a professor at NYU and at this point he was likely earning $50k-$70k making it much easier to pay the rent.

I know that was a lot of info to process, and honestly, most people probably won't even make it this far, but I just thought it was pretty interesting to break down how the Friends characters could realistically afford their apartments. Sure, it's a sitcom, so some things will always be a bit far-fetched, but it's cool to see how the details line up when you take a closer look. At the end of the day, Friends is here to entertain, and dissecting the characters’ financials can be a fun way to revisit the show. Thanks for reading if you made it this far! And let me know any thought or questions you may have!