D pays a premium because she wanted a washer and dryer. They were not common in her area as is a dedicated parking space. Her place is condos that are rented and are pretty upscale.
So S just signed a lease agreement last night for apartment for Sept. 1. 2 bedroom in Brighton section of Boston. Looks like a very nice building. Built in the '30’s. Has laundry in the building and his apt. has a nice but small terrace. Heat/hot water included and one parking space - all for $2000/month. Of course we had to lay out first/last month and cover the roommate until his parent’s check gets to him. We can transfer directly into one of S’s accounts so roommate will just pay us back and S can pay us back for his share in installments - since we already paid his first & last month’s rent for his sublet. And his car insurance is all sorted and car registered in MA - which was another nightmare thanks to Boston Post Office which lost all the paperwork sent to agent (like the title, bill of sale, etc.) H says he will never send anything important through USPO again (and we sent it priority and certified.)
D just signed a lease agreement for an apartment last week. She is sharing with a roommate - another girl who went to the same school. We tried to find a good neighborhood (hard to do this long distance!) and the apartment rent is very reasonable in my mind. We also had the talk about investing to the max in the 401K and I think she should be able to do that fairly easily. We are going to give her my car (about six years old) - so she should be all set with transportation, D budgets very well and lives very much like a starving student (she had a very healthy bank balance even as a student), so not anticipating that we will need to supplement her income. But we might do other things like pay for her flight home for the holidays or pay for her to see her brother perform.
S pays about $2k/mo for renting a one bedroom that is well-located and very comfortable, with washer, dryer, etc. I believe he also pays utilities. Not sure what he earns, but he has two jobs–one is full time and the other part time. He probably is paying close to 1/3 of his gross income from his full time job for rent and utilities. He knows there are less expensive options, but he’s comfortable.
He probably pays only about 15% or less of his total gross income for rent and utilities. He toys with the idea of buying, but isn’t sure where he wants to live longer term.
I’m glad I didn’t have to get involved in the searching. S’s company arranged for a realtor and paid the finders fee.
S’s rent is approx 1/4 of his gross income so he should have no trouble paying it, paying for his necessities and entertainment along with putting some money into his 401K every month. It’s just the getting of apartments before he even has gotten his first paycheck where we have had to lay out money. But hey, as my H said - it’s better then him having no job and living in our basement!
S lives in a fairly rural area, and his pay at this starting job is way below $50K, but rents in the area are surprisingly high. Probably because of the presence of the university, combined with the scarcity of purpose-built apartments.
He shares a house with a few other guys, all either graduate students or recent grads with jobs in the area, like him. No wild parties. (Also almost no furniture!) The house is fairly run down, but they are surprisingly neat. No dirty dishes in the sink or pizza boxes strewn about at this house! The various kinds of garbage receptacles are all prominently labelled. When we asked if we could use wine glasses, or a bowl to give the dog a drink, he said “Sure, if you wash it.” 
His rent is just a tad below 30% of his gross, but includes almost all utility costs. He has debt from grad school, and had to buy a car in order to do his job, but we are his bankers. He is making regular payments, and taking advantage of his 401K. He says he has enough money when I ask. H’s advice to him was to put by an emergency fund of 3 or 4 month’s expenses before trying to increase his payments to pay off his debt more quickly. He is accustomed to living like a poor student, and there isn’t much to blow big $$ on in his area.
We do not give him money. Our contribution was to lend him the school/car money.