Why aren't the Girls broke? From cosy Brooklyn rentals to tuition and stints in rehab, how TV characters live way beyond their meager means
- A new infographic calculates how much each character might earn and spend on rent and living expenses
- Shoshanna would be the most deeply in debt if her parents weren't paying her bills
- Season four of the hit HBO series premiered in the U.S. last night
Lena Dunham's HBO series Girls has become a huge hit for its portrayal of New York City millenials. But, a new infographic shows, the numbers don't quite add up when it comes to Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna's financials.
The research, by Digit.co, finds that the average pre-tax income for the characters' respective jobs wouldn't always cover living expenses and typical rent for the apartments in which they live.
Shoshanna would be the most deeply in debt - largely because she is a student at NYU for the first three seasons. Tuition fees of $3,847.50 per month, share of an apartment in Manhattan's trendy Nolita ($1,275 per month) and living expenses of $1,327.04 per month, add up to a hefty $6,449.54.
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Grumpy at Cafe Grumpy: In season one, Hannah (right) is forced to take a barista job working for Ray (left) after her parents cut her off - but the wages barely cover her rent
Afloat: Jessa (left) and Hannah (right) pictured in Hannah's apartment in a still from season three. By this point, Hannah is working as a copywriter for GQ and can more than afford her $1,450-per-month share of rent
While we can assume that Shoshanna's parents pick up that tab, the same is not true of Hannah, who struggled in season one when her parents cut her off. Though she managed to find a job in Cafe Grumpy, her monthly income of $1,512 barely covers her share of rent on the Greenpoint, Brooklyn, apartment she shares with Marnie ($1,450), let alone living expenses of $1,509.18 each month. This adds up to a monthly loss of $1,447.18.
Hannah's finances look healthier by season two thanks to her budding career as a writer. Digit.co calculates that she would have been earning $35,000 a year ($2,916.67 per month), narrowing her loss to $42.51 per month.
And by season three, her job as a copywriter for GQ (J. Crew's Jenna Lyons famously made a cameo as her boss) meant that she was well and truly in the black, making $2,436.65 a month after paying her rent and living expenses. At least until she quits.
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Manhattan lifestyle: Shoshanna, a student at NYU in seasons one, two and three, spends $1,275 per month on her share of a Nolita apartment - luckily her parents pick up the tab for rent, tuition and living expenses
Falling apart: Jessa's finances are the healthiest of all the Girls until she enters rehab. She would still be contributing $1,450 a month rent in Greenpoint, but without an income, plus living expenses, she would be losing $2,959.18 per month
In contrast, Marnie's finances worsen as the seasons progress. The art gallery assistant and aspiring singer is found to be making a small loss in season one of just $48.60 per month, but by season two (in which she moves in with Shoshanna and must work as a nightclub hostess) this escalates to a monthly loss of $268.71.
Her situation doesn't even improve when she finds a new gallery job - it only pays $34,927 per year ($2,910.58 per month) - but by this time she is renting an apartment in Manhattan, costing her $2,000 per month, pushing up her monthly loss to $1,171.05.
For such a troubled character, Jessa manages to keep herself afloat for more of the first three seasons than any of the other characters. Her job as a nanny in season one brings in $673 per week, while her share of Shoshanna's apartment costs just $1,275 per month. Things fall apart in season two when she enters rehab though. Digit.co calculates that she would be contributing $1,450 a month rent in Greenpoint, but without an income, plus living expenses, she would be losing $2,959.18 per month. The cost of rehab is picked up by her grandmother.
In debt: Marnie finds a new job as a gallery assistant in season three, but it only pays $34,927 per year - and by this time she is renting a $2,000-per-month apartment in Manhattan, pushing up her monthly loss to $1,171.05
Digit.co calculated the figures in the infographic by using real-world averages and online postings.
'For as close a comparison as possible, we used average residential area rent as a basis,' the site explains.
'In NYC, rent can exhaust roughly 49per cent of a person's living expenses. We did the math from there, selecting one profession (pre-tax) and apartment per season for each character.'
How each character will fare in season four remains to be seen. Last night's premier saw Hannah depart for Iowa and Shoshanna graduate from NYU. Marnie's attempts at a singing career are poorly received by diners at a (jazz-free) jazz brunch and Jessa is left crushed when her role as carer to Beadie is snatched away after attempting to help the elderly photographer commit suicide.
Fact meets fiction: The figures in the infographic were calculated using real-world averages and online postings. They show that Jessa would have been the only character actually making money in season one
Broke: By season two, all of the Girls girls would be deeply in debt by real world standards, though Hannah's monthly loss is down to just $42.51
Ups and downs: Season three sees Hannah get a well-paid job as a GQ copywriter, but Marnie falls deeper into the red after moving in to a $2,000-a-month apartment
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