Rents are up and wages are down in the city, according to a report from real estate website StreetEasy.

This means finding an affordable place to rent and making enough to pay for rent bills is getting substantially more difficult for young New Yorkers, Kenny Lee, an economist at StreetEasy, told Rocco Vertuccio and Shannan Ferry Sunday morning on NY1.

"Unaffordable rents really make it difficult for young New Yorkers to put down to put down their roots in the city," Lee said.

Wages in the city are down more than 9% this year compared to last year, according to StreetEasy. Meanwhile, rent prices are up more than 13%.

Typically, renters are advised not to spend more than 30% of their salary on rent each month. The report found more than 48% of workers need to spend more than half of their wages to afford 10% of rentals on the market.

Essential workers are hit especially hard by rising rent, as they can afford just 2% of rentals on the market, StreetEasy reported.

All of this comes as rental availability is very low.

"I think it will be really helpful if the inventory increases for the rental market," Lee said. "The rental market has been so competitive in particular because of very low inventory."

However, there are ways to lower the cost of rent, such as living with a roommate.

"A lot of people have to be really, really creative to be able to afford a rental unit in this competitive market," Lee said. "In StreetEasy data, we found out that splitting the rent with another roommate can save each individual at least $13,000 per year."

Also, people could look at apartments in Queens, Brooklyn or the Bronx, where rent prices are often lower than they are in Manhattan.

"Our streaming data indicates that renters have been already looking farther away from Manhattan to meet their needs," Lee said. "For a lot of people working from home, this is a no-brainer, but for so many New Yorkers struggling with rent, it's really not by their choice."