June 1, 2026, 1:44 p.m. ET From Bert and Ernie to Will and Grace, roommate situations in cities are so familiar they’ve become ingrained in American popular culture. But now the housing affordability crisis is expanding roommate life far beyond the big cities where many Americans start their young adult lives. An analysis from SpareRoom, an online roommate search tool, shows that small cities are seeing more than double the number of users searching for roommates as in years past.