Cleaning Habits are the Biggest Pandemic Roommate Pet Peeve for Renters [Survey]

Our survey experts asked renters about the roommates they have lived with during the pandemic. They asked respondents to say if they live with friends, friends of friends, classmates, family members, co-workers or strangers. They inquired about household size, happiness and if they’d live with these roommates again in the future.

Coronavirus restrictions forced many roommates into close proximity. So our experts asked how much time roommates spend together inside the home. Then we analyzed if time together influenced satisfaction levels.

The pandemic drew attention to widespread hunger, financial concerns, eviction worries and political and social division in the U.S. Our experts wanted to discover if these issues are primary concerns for American renters. So the survey asked respondents to name their biggest pet peeve. Then we analyzed how these pet peeves differ by age, gender and number of roommates.

People with one roommate are extremely satisfied

Our survey asked renters to rate how happy they were within their households. Five options were available; extremely satisfied, somewhat satisfied, extremely dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or neither satisfied or dissatisfied.

Renters with one roommate are at their happiest in their households; 44.8 percent said they were extremely satisfied with their roommates. That’s the largest percentage in that category. Only 1.1 percent said they are extremely dissatisfied — the smallest percentage reported in that category.

In contrast, 29.5 percent of people with two roommates, 25.7 percent of renters with three roommates and 37.4 percent of individuals with four or more housemates told us that they are extremely satisfied with their living arrangements.

People who are extremely dissatisfied made up a slightly larger percentage of these larger households as well; 3.7 percent of renters with two roommates say they are extremely dissatisfied. In addition, 6.1 percent of renters with three or more housemates feel the same way.

All household sizes report satisfaction

When we add in the renters who said they were somewhat satisfied or somewhat dissatisfied — the happiness numbers become much more evenly distributed. At least half of all survey respondents in every household size said they were at least somewhat satisfied with their roommates.

A slim majority (50.3 percent) of renters with one roommate said they were at least somewhat satisfied with their living situation. Interestingly, 35.2 percent of people with only one roommate shared they are somewhat dissatisfied, bringing the total number of somewhat dissatisfied renters to 36.3 percent. Suddenly, two-person households aren’t the clear winners.

When we added in renters who were “somewhat satisfied” with their roommates into the statistical analysis, people who have four or more roommates topped the happiness list; 65.2 percent said they are at least somewhat satisfied. Just 13.1 percent said they are at least somewhat dissatisfied.

Individuals with two roommates are right behind; 63.8 percent report feeling at least somewhat dissatisfied. Another 15.9 percent indicate at least some dissatisfaction. Renters with three or more roommates clock in at 50.9 percent at least somewhat satisfied and 23.9 somewhat dissatisfied.

Renters who live with classmates are happiest

Most renters in our survey live with family members (43.1 percent) or friends (39.8 percent). An additional 7.8 percent live with friends of friends. Just 6.9 percent of renters in our survey room with strangers, while 1.8 percent live with classmates.

However, people who live with classmates report the highest levels of satisfaction. Of the 90.9 percent of this group who say they were at least somewhat satisfied with their roommates, 81.8 reported extreme satisfaction. But we need to take those numbers with a grain of salt — only about 2 percent of respondents live with classmates (such a small percentage of the sample size can contribute to a larger margin of error).

But there’s plenty of data to tell us that people who knew each other before living together report high levels of happiness. People who live with friends or family members are the most likely to report at least some satisfaction with their living situation. (The totals are 89.8 percent for friends and 88.7 percent for family.) Of these, 48.9 percent of renters who live with family and 47.4 percent of people who room with friends told us they were extremely satisfied with their roommates.

People who didn’t know each other before becoming roommates are actually happier together than people who live with friends of friends. Of people who room with strangers, 63 percent said they were at least somewhat satisfied with their housemates. Another 38.9 said they were extremely satisfied.

In contrast, individuals who live with friends of friends reported just 54.3 percent satisfaction. And only 11.9 percent said they are extremely satisfied with their choice. It’s possible that renters interview strangers more thoroughly than acquaintances when looking for roommates.

Nearly 40 percent of renters see their roommates all the time at home

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how much time people spend at home. Virtual school, working from home and coronavirus closures and lockdown measures forced more Americans to work, eat, learn and socialize at home. Our experts wondered how this influenced roommate relations.

As one might expect during a global health crisis known for stay-at-home measures, most people (39.3 percent) said they see their roommates “all the time” at home since the start of the pandemic. Renters who see their roommates a few hours a day made up 31.5 percent of respondents. Another 22.2 percent connect with housemates for at least half of the day. Only 7 percent reported that they rarely encounter their roommates at home.

Time together increased satisfaction

You might think that all that togetherness would get on roommates’ nerves — however, it turns out that absence does not make the heart grow fonder.

The more time people spend together at home, the more likely they were to describe themselves as “extremely satisfied” with their living situation. These extremely satisfied people connect with their roommates often; 54.4 percent see their roommates all the time and 41.6 percent see them for at least half the day.

When renters who report being “somewhat satisfied” are added to the “extremely satisfied” numbers, roommates who spend lots of time together come out on top by an even bigger margin. Out of all the renters that said they were at least somewhat satisfied with their living situation, a whopping 81.5 percent spend at least half the day with their roommates, followed closely by 79.3 percent who spend all day together and 62 percent of housemates who see each other for a few hours daily.

Roommates who rarely interact at home reported the lowest level of satisfaction — 59.2 percent.

Cleaning habits top the roommate pet peeves list

Despite widespread unemployment, financial woes, eviction worries and food insecurity, renters in our survey said money isn’t their biggest and only concern. Only 7.1 percent said their top pet peeve is a roommate being late with rent or utility payments. Not paying for groceries or stealing food only irked 6.5 percent of respondents.

Poor communication (12.2 percent) ranks higher than any financial concern. Violating personal space is right behind at 9.7 percent.

Disagreements about pets (3.4 percent), differing political and social views (3.5 percent), conflicts about overnight guests (3.8 percent), having too many guests visit (5.2 percent), or violating quiet hours (5.3 percent) all made the list of pet peeves. Miscellaneous “other” complaints logged 6.1 percent of votes.

But all of these annoyances combined didn’t add up to the biggest pet peeve of all — cleaning habits. Roommates often disagree over chores and cleaning. (They’re frequently addressed in roommate agreements.) Poor cleaning habits bothered 37 percent of our survey subjects.

Cleaning habits are the top pet peeve in every single subset, including age, gender and number of roommates (but renters’ other pet peeves varied).

Pet peeves by gender

While cleaning habits are the biggest pet peeve for both genders, they annoy women (40.7 percent) more than men (32.9 percent).

A popular stereotype is that women want stronger communication — our results show the opposite; 13.8 percent of men listed poor communication as their top pet peeve, compared to 10.6 percent of women.

Men are also more frustrated by violations of their personal space — more men (9.2 percent) listed this as a pet peeve than women (8.4 percent).

Both genders are equally frustrated by financial issues. Stealing food or contributing to the grocery budget annoys 6.3 percent of females and 6.1 percent of males. A roommate who pays rent or utility bills late is the top pet peeve for 6.1 percent of both men and women.

Pet peeves by age group

People of all ages find themselves annoyed by their roommates’ cleaning habits. It’s a frustration shared by 25.4 percent of renters over 60, 40.2 percent of people aged 24-60, 53.2 percent of the 30-44 age group and 36.9 percent of renters 18-29. Other pet peeves vary by age.

Renters over 60 are angered by communication issues (17.7 percent) and a variety of other grievances (19.2 percent) that didn’t neatly fit into any other category. Interestingly, 10.8 percent of people over 60 reported frustrations with political of social differences. This is the only time this issue cracks the top four in any age group.

Communication issues plague 14 percent of adults 45-60 as well. Other concerns and violations of personal space tied for third place with 7.5 percent of the votes. Fourth place goes to roommates who don’t pay the grocery bill or steal food (6.2 percent.)

The second most pressing concern for adults 30-44 is a lack of respect for personal space. It clocks in at 10.8 percent, followed by communication problems (8.8 percent). There is a three-way tie for fourth place; issues with pets, overnight guests and roommates who are late with rent or utility bills —all receiving 6.8 percent of the vote.

Roommates in the 18-29 age group share this financial concern; 8.1 percent of renters say late rent or utility payments bother them the most. It comes in just between communication problems (11.2 percent) and personal space issues (9.4 percent).

Pet peeves by household size

Cleaning habits are the most popular complaint in households of all sizes; 37.2 percent of people with one roommate complain about it. Compare that with 37.3 percent of people with two roommates, 31.9 percent of renters with three roommates and 40 percent of individuals with four or more roommates.

As the number of roommates increases, the top four complaints change. People with one roommate said communication problems (14.7 percent) and “other” concerns (9 percent) top the list. The violation of personal space claims 6.4 percent.

As the number of roommates increases, the frequency of personal space complaints also increases. The violation of personal space is the top concern for 10 percent of respondents who have two roommates, 11.6 percent of renters with three roommates and 13 percent of people with four or more roommates. The violation of personal space is the second most common complaint in all of these household sizes.

Renters with two roommates have issues with communication and disagree with their housemates about the number of guests they host. Both complaints garnered 8.8 percent of the vote.

Personal space complaints tied with communication issues for renters who have three roommates. Both annoy 11.6 percent of respondents. Another 8.6 percent of renters express frustration with roommates who violate quiet hours.

Communication is a concern in the largest households; 9.6 percent of people with four or more roommates say poor communication is their biggest pet peeve. But more people (11.3 percent) worry that their roommates are stealing food or not paying their fair share of the grocery bill.

Despite pandemic challenges, nearly 80 percent of renters would live with roommates again

Our experts asked survey takers if they would live with roommates again. They specifically instructed them to consider pandemic-related challenges, including close living quarters and working from home.

Even with these pandemic pressures, most renters (40.1 percent) say they’d be very likely to live with roommates again, while 19.7 percent say it is likely. Another 17.1 percent say it is somewhat likely they’d live with a roommate again. Only 3.6 percent of survey takers say it is unlikely. The smallest percentage — 2.4 percent — said it is very unlikely that they’d live with a roommate again.

So despite numerous pet peeves and the challenges of a once-in-a-lifetime global health crisis, most renters we surveyed said they’d repeat the experience. Problems with roommates are common, but the benefits outweigh the challenges in the majority of households.

Roommate survey methodology

The information presented in this survey comes from a Rent. roommates survey conducted in May 2021. It analyzed the renters’ experiences with roommates between March 2020 and April 2021.

A total of 1,900 renters participated in the survey. The largest group of survey-takers (34.2 percent) was 45-60 years old. The smallest group (16.9 percent) was over 60. Another 26.4 percent were aged 18-29, while 22.5 percent were in the 30-44 age bracket.

Our respondents were roughly half male and half female. Slightly more than half (50.7 percent) were men and 49.3 percent were women.

The majority of people who responded to this survey – 1,094 individuals or 57.6 percent — reported that they had roommates during the coronavirus pandemic. Most renters in our survey (49.8 percent) lived with one roommate. Another 24.8 percent lived in two roommate households. An additional 14.9 percent of survey takers reported living with three roommates, while 10.5 percent lived with four or more roommates.

Survey takers lived in every region of the U.S. The largest portion of respondents hailed from the Southern Atlantic states (20.7 percent), followed by the Pacific (18.3 percent) and Middle Atlantic (15.4 percent) zones.

Survey results are subject to response biases because they are self-reported.

Fair use statement

This survey records the experience of living with a roommate during the coronavirus pandemic. All graphics and content are available for non-commercial reuse. Please link to this page and credit the survey in all citations.