Here’s How Much You and Your Partner Can Save by Moving in Together

Don’t let this make the moving-in-together decision for you, but knowing that some serious savings may be on the way could help make the decision easier.

If you and your S.O. are considering moving in together, there’s a lot to discuss. Even if you have the signs of a healthy relationship, any relationship can be strained by the stress of house (or apartment) hunting, moving (even with good moving tips), combining possessions, and actually living together. Moving in together is no small decision, and it’s one that should be talked and thought through—it definitely shouldn’t be based on logistics. But if those logistics are part of the conversation and decision, it may be worth it to know that moving in together, with all its emotional and romantic perks, also comes with some major financial bonuses.

Tuxedo and suit rental company The Black Tux crunched the numbers—using data on rental costs, utility expenses, grocery prices, and more from the USDA and other sources—to find out exactly how much money moving in together can save a couple. You probably expect it to be a lot, but the numbers may be even higher than you thought.

According to the analysis, couples cohabitating in large cities (think San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.) can save each person as much as $955 per month. (That’s a great starting deposit for your emergency fund.) The numbers vary by city, with Bostonians saving an average of $702 per person, for example, but those kinds of numbers are pretty tempting, especially if you and your partner are already considering moving in together.

RELATED: 5 Things You Should Ask Your Partner Before Moving In Together

Not all cohabitators will save that much money, of course. In smaller cities and cities with lower average costs of living, couples moving in together will save less—but, proportionally to income, they’re still saving a good bit of money. In Memphis, Tenn., couples will save $333 each; in Cincinnati, Ohio, they’ll save $272 each.

Black Tux does make a series of assumptions in calculating these numbers. Most noticeably, it assumes that each partner would be moving from living alone in a one-bedroom apartment to sharing a two-bedroom apartment. Most couples likely share a one-bedroom at first, so the savings would be even larger for them. Also, many people move from living with roommates to living with an S.O., in which case their savings may be smaller, as they weren’t paying to live alone to start. Essentially, every situation is different, but it remains true that moving in together saves money.

It’s worth repeating that conventional wisdom says you should not move in together because “it makes sense” or a lease is ending and there’s not a better option; moving in together should be based, first and foremost, on shared goals and a shared vision for a future together. If money is part of the conversation, though, you can see the full list of average savings per cohabitator in the largest 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S. as ranked by Black Tux.