Sigh, bring on the face punches for the person who voted 50%+ (includes utilities). I'll attempt to justify, but I still know it's absurd.
It is an unfortunate reality for entry level jobs in large cities, especially if you have a large dog, that rentals are COMPETITIVE, and group housing doesn't always work with pets. The absolute cheapest option I could find would still only bring it down to ~40% and for safety reasons wouldn't be feasible as a single woman.
On the salary side, I suppose I could finagle take home pay to reflect the non-salary benefits I get, like graduate schol tuition, gym membership, and metro benefits, in addition to better than average health and other insurance, and the benefits of the outside training and certification they pay for.
On the expenses side, I pay nothing for transportation because I can walk everywhere and don't have a car, nor do I need one. No debts from college, and will not have any from graduate school.
Even with the tiny salary and huge rent payment, I save about 15%; and if anything my lifestyle has deflated from college after I sold the car, stopped drinking as much, and got better about packing my own lunch. The point is, the absurdity of my rental situation is temporary (my salary will go up, and i wont be in this city forever) and allows me to keep all my other expenses low, so it's the trade off I make.