Rent Split Calculator: Split Rent Fairly With Roommates

Agree on the method first, then let the arithmetic settle the cents. An equal split is the simplest and fits bedrooms of about the same size. When they differ, split by bedroom size: one part of the rent covers the space everyone uses and is split equally, and the rest follows each bedroom's square feet. Some groups split by income instead, so each person pays the same share of what they earn. A feature one room has and the others do not, such as a private bathroom or a parking spot, can carry a premium the group agrees on, paid by that room and credited to everyone else. Whatever you choose, the shares should add up to the rent exactly, which the calculator above does to the cent.

Decide what part of the rent pays for shared space: the kitchen, living room and any bathrooms everyone uses. If you know the apartment's total square feet, that part can be the shared square feet divided by the total. Split that part equally, then split the rest in proportion to each bedroom's square feet. With $3,000 rent, 40% for shared space and bedrooms of 150, 120 and 100 sq ft, the shared $1,200.00 is $400.00 each and the other $1,800.00 is split 150, 120 and 100 parts of 370, so the three pay $1,129.73, $983.78 and $886.49.

It depends on what your group wants. An income split makes each person pay the same share of what they earn: on $2,400 rent with incomes of $90,000, $60,000 and $50,000, that is $1,080.00, $720.00 and $600.00. It can keep a lower earner in a home the group wants. An equal or size split ties the rent to what each person gets instead, and an agreed adjustment can let one person pay a set amount less. Use yearly or monthly incomes, as long as everyone uses the same kind. Incomes you type stay in your browser and are never put in the page link.

Agree a premium for it, as a dollar amount a month or a percent of that room's share, and credit it to everyone else so the total stays the same. Say three people split $3,000 equally and agree the room with the private bathroom pays $100 more: that person pays $1,100.00 and the other two pay $50.00 less each, $950.00. Choose By room features, or By size and features, enter the premium and tick the room that has it. A larger closet, a balcony or a parking spot works the same way.

That depends on your lease, not on the split you agreed among yourselves. Our Pennsylvania guide notes: "Roommates who sign the same lease are jointly and severally liable under the contract and common law, not by statute, so each one can be pursued for the entire rent and all damages." Our Georgia guide notes: "Joint and several liability among roommates comes from the lease contract, not from statute." Look in your lease for who is named as a tenant and for words like jointly and severally liable, and read the roommate guide for your city on this page.

Each share is worked out exactly first, then cut to whole cents. The cents left over, always fewer than the number of people, go one each to the shares that lost the most in the cut. If two shares lost the same amount, the cent goes to the bigger bedroom or the higher income, then to the person listed first. So the shares always add up to the rent exactly and none is ever a cent or more away from its exact value. $100.00 split three ways is $33.34, $33.33 and $33.33.

That is for your group to decide, and the calculator lets you do it either way. By default each person counts once for the shared space, so a couple in one bedroom pays two shares of it plus that bedroom's own part. Tick Shares the bedroom of the person above for the second partner, then set Count to each bedroom if you want the couple's bedroom to count once, and choose whether the two appear on one line or two.