Ive lived in 2 of the largest metropolitan areas in the US for 2 decades, and my rent has never been over 800 dollars. That's exorbitant to me, but that's still a far cry away from 2 grand a month. I know there are a few extremely overpriced cities in the US, but in the rest of the cities, if you're paying above 1k a month for a one bedroom you're trying to live somewhere that you chose to live precisely because it was more exclusive and you can't blame the world for making that decision.