Several areas of Florida have a very high cost of living. Luckily, whether you're a long-term resident or just making a 4-year trip to live in apartments near FSU, you will benefit from the lower than average cost of living found in Tallahassee. Check out our guide to get a more comprehensive look at the cost of living as a college student in Tallahassee.
Overall, Florida has a cost of living that is slightly lower than the US average. However, Florida is a very diverse state, filled with both thriving metropolises as well as tiny towns and large rural areas. There is a large gap between the cost of living in large cities verses rural areas. Thus while Florida as a whole has a slightly lower than average cost of living, most cities cost more than the average. Tallahassee is unique in that it is larger city, but still has a lower than average cost of living.
Much of what you perceive to be affordable depends on where you are living now. You can easily view Tallahassee apartments based on price using our easy search tool. Once you are there, you can also search based on whatever other criteria you may have – location, number of bedrooms, specific amenities, and more.
There are several things that you can do to help with the affordability of your Tallahassee apartment. One option, depending on your circumstances, is to look into having roommates. Roommates will help to lessen the rent that you pay – it's cheaper to rent half of a two-bedroom unit than all of a one-bedroom unit.
Once you've gotten an idea of what sort of homes are available, you may realize that the sort of place you're interested in is a lot more than your current rent. If this is the case, you should try to figure out what is important to you. Safety features? Unit floor plans? Location? There may be other places with some of what you are looking for that better fit in your price range.
If you can't find a Tallahassee apartment that you love within your current rent budget, see if something else in your budget can change. To do this, keep track of all your expenses for one month. While keeping track, you may see that you are spending more money eating out than you realized, or that your cable package is costing you a lot of money. If you see things that you think you could save money on but aren't sure how, check out a few of these guides – found here, here, and here.
I hope that you will find living in Tally to be a great experience, should you decide to move. Tallahassee is a unique city in Florida, and I hope that you will find it an affordable place to live.