Paying $2500/mo for rent alone on a $50k salary is crazy.

That's why no one does it. They have roommates

As a grown adult, having roommates is not really an acceptable situation.

> As a grown adult, having roommates is not really an acceptable situation.

I know plenty of grown adults that have roomates, because they prefer the quality of accommodations they can afford that way to what they would be able to afford without them. (And not even in places with Bay Area-level high cost of housing.)

If it is unacceptable to you, that's fine, but don't pretend it has something to do with being "a grown adult".

What do you count as an adult? I was the weird one by having my own place. Every 'adult' I know had roommates until they found an SO and moved in together and/or got married. These people all made enough money to live alone, but preferred spending money on other things. I also do not live in a super expensive place. A 1br apt. goes for ~1200 in the trendy spots.

Roommates in a "studio apartment" (i.e. one big room)? That's... not great.

Sure ... but hopefully not in a studio apartment (as per OP).

It's a real stretch to say 50k is a livable salary in most of the bay area.

and/or they live in the East Bay, where rent is still much more affordable.

Is $1,500 much better?

Um yes? It's $1,000/month better

Much, much better.

A reasonable approximation is to target no more than 25% of your take home for housing, but you can probably survive closer to 50% for a while if you must. So for 50k, you're looking at something like $800 - $1600 being manageable. You'd be much better off near the other end of the range.