Overall, renters have been happy with their roommates during the pandemic.
According to data from Rent.com’s 2021 Roommate Survey, having one roommate during the pandemic is the most popular living situation and renters with one roommate are also the happiest. The survey found that 44.8% of renters with one roommate said they were extremely satisfied, and only 1.1% reported being extremely dissatisfied. Just under half of respondents had one roommate.
Meanwhile, just shy of a quarter of renters lived with two roommates, while about 15% had three roommates; 10.5% of renters lived with four or more roommates. The latter group reported the highest level of being satisfied and the second-highest report of being extremely satisfied.
Despite being the second-smallest cohort, classmate renters (1.8% of respondents) were the happiest at 90.9% satisfied and 81.8% extremely satisfied. Family members (43.1%) were the most represented roommate group and were the third-most satisfied.
The pandemic forced renters to spend more time with each other with restrictions and lockdowns. Nearly 40% of renters spent all the time with roommates during the pandemic. Roughly a third spent a few hours a day together, and more than a fifth spent at least half the day with roommates. As time together increased, so did roommate satisfaction. More than half of respondents spending all the time with roommates said they were extremely satisfied, while those who spent only a few hours a day with roommates were half as extremely satisfied.
Spending time with others no matter the relationship between roommates can cause irritations. Cleaning habits (37%) was the top roommate pet peeve. Poor communication at 12.2% was a distant second followed by violation of personal space, late rent or utility payments, and stealing food or not paying for groceries.
Regardless of pet peeves and the pandemic, 80% of renters said they would live with their roommates again—more than 40% said they are very likely to live with roommates again.
There were 1,900 renters who took the survey; nearly 1,100 people reported they lived with roommates during the pandemic. Full results can be found here.