Shitty, illegal apartments, likely with 5+ roommates.

In New York City: Example 1: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/nyregion/overcrowding-wor... Example 2: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/23/nyregion/base...

> What city are you getting a $500 apartment in

Probably possible with a roommate. Still possible without, but rarer. I’ve seen dirt cheap one rooms available (think like $350/m) in middle of nowhere Utah. In certain cities, you can even live in the city, for maybe a little more than $500. I’ve seen them for example, in Des Moines.

I wouldn’t necessarily blanket any region, as as you drill down, you find that some places where’s you’d expect cheaper housing don’t have it because of whatever local bureaucracy is preventing it.

The cheapest ACA plans with $13000 income are $20-$30. So regular insurance. There are apartments all over for $500 or less. Search Zillow, there are far more though if you look on Facebook or just walk around an area and collect signs. Obviously it's not going to be the nicest spot, but most any college town will have lots of nice places for around $500.