How much more should the master bedroom pay?
Quick answer
There is no standard percentage. Score each bedroom on size, private bathroom, closet, light, quiet and outdoor access, add base points for what every room gets, and divide the rent by the total points. In a $3,200 three bedroom apartment, that makes the master $1,300, the middle room $1,100 and the back room $800.
Key points
- No fixed percentage fits every apartment. The premium comes from what the room has, so score the features and let the rent follow the points.
- Give every room base points, then add points for size, bathroom, closet, light, quiet and outdoor access. More base points means a smaller premium.
- In the $3,200 example, at $50 a point, the master pays $1,300, the middle room $1,100 and the back room $800.
- Check the result in dollars per feature, then run a blind check where each roommate writes what they think each room should cost.
On this page
Is there a standard premium for the master bedroom?
No. Any single percentage is a guess about somebody else’s apartment. A master with its own bathroom, in a place where the other two share one, is a different case from a master that is only 30 square feet bigger. So skip the percentage and price the features.
If you only want to price by floor area, how to split rent by room size covers that. This page picks up where area stops.
How do you score each room?
Give every bedroom base points, then add points for each feature. Base points are what every room gets: a door, a window and equal use of the kitchen and living room. Use 10 per room. Agree the scales for the features together, before anyone looks at the rooms.
- Size: 1 point for every 40 square feet, rounded to the nearest whole point. A 200 square foot room scores 5, a 130 square foot room scores 3 and a 90 square foot room scores 2.
- Private bathroom: 5 points for one the room has to itself, 0 for a shared one.
- Closet: 0 for a small one, 1 for a standard one, 2 for one you can step into.
- Light: 0 to 3, with 3 for a room that is bright most of the day.
- Quiet: 0 to 3, with 3 for a room away from the street, the neighbors and the kitchen.
- Outdoor access: 0 for none, 1 for a shared balcony reached from the hall, 2 for a balcony or patio with a door from the room.
How do the points turn into rent?
Add up each room’s points, divide the rent by the total points, and multiply by each room’s points. In a $3,200 three bedroom apartment with rooms of 200, 130 and 90 square feet, the points come to 64. Each point is worth $3,200 ÷ 64 = $50.
| Feature | Master | Middle | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base points | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Size | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Private bathroom | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Closet | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Light | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Quiet | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Outdoor access | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Total points | 26 | 22 | 16 |
| Share of rent | 40.6% | 34.4% | 25% |
| Rent at $50 a point | $1,300 | $1,100 | $800 |
An equal split would be $1,066.67 each, so the master pays $233.33 more than that. Against the back room the gap is $500, which is the 10 points the master has over it.
Do the prices of the features make sense?
At $50 a point, every feature has a dollar price, and you can read them out loud.
- The master’s private bathroom is 5 points, so $250 a month.
- The master’s extra 3 points of size over the back room is $150 a month.
- The middle room’s 2 extra points of quiet over the master is $100 a month.
If a number makes someone wince, change that feature’s scale and run the table again. A bathroom worth $250 a month may be fine in one apartment and too steep in another.
Base points are the other dial. At 20 per room instead of 10, the totals become 36, 32 and 26, which is 94 points. Each point is then about $34.04, and the rents are $1,225.53, $1,089.36 and $885.11. The master’s lead over the back room narrows from $500 to about $340.
What is a blind check?
Before anyone has picked a room, each roommate writes down privately what each room should cost, with the three numbers adding up to $3,200. Then average them.
Say Priya writes $1,350, $1,050 and $800. Sam writes $1,250, $1,150 and $800. Tess writes $1,200, $1,100 and $900. The averages are $1,266.67 for the master, $1,100 for the middle room and $833.33 for the back room. The points gave $1,300, $1,100 and $800, so the two methods are $33.33 apart on the master and the back room, and agree exactly on the middle.
Agree beforehand how big a gap calls for a conversation, such as $50. A bigger gap can mean the points are missing a feature someone cares about, like a view. Add a row to the table and run it again. Who gets which room is a separate decision, covered in how to decide which roommate gets the bigger room.
How do you set it up in EvenOut?
Add the rent as one expense in a Household group. Open the split chip and choose “Shares”, then type 26, 22 and 16. EvenOut shows the 64 shares and the $50 a share, with each person’s dollar share under their name. Under “Photo, repeat, pending or note”, set Repeat to Monthly and EvenOut adds each later month with the same payer and split. If the rent changes, stop the repeat from “Repeating expenses” and add a new one. The shares stay the same.
What should you do next?
Agree the scales, score the rooms together, run the blind check and write the three final amounts down. What to include in a roommate agreement has a line for them. For the other methods side by side, see how to split rent fairly.
Frequently asked questions
What if the master bedroom is smaller but has the private bathroom?
The points handle it. A 90 square foot room with its own bathroom scores 2 for size and 5 for the bathroom, so 7 feature points. A 200 square foot room that shares a bathroom scores 5. With the same base, the smaller room with the ensuite can come out as the more expensive one.
Should the master pay more of the utilities too?
Usually not. The room's extras belong on the rent line. Bills follow use, so a $150 bill split three ways is $50 each whichever room someone sleeps in, unless the group agrees a separate rule such as days present.
What if two roommates want the master bedroom?
Agree the price first and pick rooms second. Once the master is $1,300 and the middle room is $1,100, each person can say which they would rather pay for, and nobody is arguing about who deserves it.
When should you score the rooms again?
At each lease renewal, and whenever something about a room changes, such as a replaced window or a noisy construction site next door. Keep the scales the same and update only the scores that moved.
Keep reading
- Guide How to split rent by room size (formula and example) Split rent by room size with rent times bedroom area over total bedroom area, after taking out a shared-space share. Worked on $2,700, with EvenOut steps.
- Guide How to decide which roommate gets the bigger room Compare a lottery, seniority, a yearly rotation and the bid method for assigning rooms. One worked $2,400 example shows the bids, the prices and the tie-breaks.
- Guide How to split rent fairly: 4 methods with real numbers Four ways to split rent fairly, run on one $2,700 apartment: equal, square footage, income and feature points, with a rule for choosing and EvenOut steps.
- Guide How to split rent 3 ways in a 2-bedroom apartment Three layouts for three people in two bedrooms, priced on $2,400 with a weights table for each: a shared room, the living room, or a yearly rotation.
- Guide How to split rent based on income, with the math Your rent is the total rent times your income, divided by everyone's income. Worked example: $2,700 over incomes of $6,000, $4,000 and $2,000.