Friends is probably the most popular TV series of all time, whether you like it or not, but one question remains.
How on earth did Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Monica (Courteney Cox) afford that massive apartment?
The purple-walled, two-bedroom apartment featured a large living area and kitchen, as well as a balcony, in the Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan.
It’s bigger than an average apartment in the area, about 1100 square feet, but nonetheless was framed as the quintessential New York apartment.
An average apartment in the area is sized at just under 700 square feet, for reference.
According to the experts at Property Club, the apartment would have set the pair back about $2,000 to £3,000 (£1,620 to £2,430) per month, from 1994-2004, when the TV series was airing.
If you were wondering how much the same unit would hypothetically cost today, you’d be looking at an eye-watering $5,000 to $8,500 (£4,050 to £6,900) a month.
Really puts the cost of living struggle into perspective, doesn’t it?
But if you remember correctly, Rachel was a waitress for the first few seasons, while Monica was a chef in the Big Apple. So, how did they swing it?
Cast your minds back to season four of Friends, and you’ll recall that Monica revealed that her grandmother was the original tenant, and the building was rent-controlled.
This meant that Monica inherited the lease, so between her and Rachel, they would have to fork out just $200 (£162) a month. Unbelievable.
The average salary of a chef in the 90s’ was around $27,000 a year (£21,900), so it wouldn’t have been an issue for Monica, while Rachel was earning about $12,000 (£9,700) a year at Central Perk, so both of them would easily have covered the minimal $200 fee.
But what about across the hall?
Joey (Matt LeBlanc) was a struggling actor for a lot of the series, aside from his stints as Dr. Drake Ramoray, while Chandler (Matthew Perry) had a job in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration. Transponster for short.
The latter would have had a salary of about $60,000 (£48,700) a year at the time, with his and Joey’s smaller apartment probably costing below $2,000 (£1,620) – making it entirely manageable for Chandler alone.
Ross (David Schwimmer) always had his own place, and as a paleontologist with a PhD, he would have been touted to earn a whopping $134,000 (£108,700) a year, setting him apart as the most wealthy of the gang.
So it all makes sense, until we get to Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow).
As a masseuse, she would have made about $10,000 (£8,100) a year at the time, the lowest of the group, and even though she split costs with her illusive roommate Denise, her lifestyle is the most unrealistic.
But it’s all just TV after all, and all of it isn’t meant to be 100 percent accurate.
