Sports

Frugal Joe Alt Struggling With Pricey LA Rent Costs After Landing $20M Signing Bonus

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Joe Alt on the field for the Los Angeles Chargers.

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Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Joe Alt cashed in on a productive college career with a first round NFL Draft selection. Along with that pick came a $20.9 million signing bonus from the Chargers.

While he’s appreciative of that incentive, and for the team that signed him, he’s struggling to come to terms with life in Los Angeles.

Alt is from North Oaks, Minnesota, a town with a population of less than 5,300 people according to the 2020 US census.

Positioned just outside St. Paul, the average rent for an apartment in the area is around $1,500 according to Rent Cafe. The site also says that’s similar to the typical apartment rental prices Alt experienced while at Notre Dame.

Let’s just say it’s taken him some time to get used to life after college.

The lineman chatted with Kay Adams on Friday, saying it’s been a major adjustment moving to LA.

“I’m a Midwest kid,” he said. “So, LA is a little bit different. Getting used to the prices of everything, and transportation, it’s a little bit different. I’m used to five miles taking five minutes, not 25-30 minutes… Rent was a little interesting. I wasn’t expecting that. Coming from the Midwest, I was like, ‘Whoa!’ It was a little bit more than what I was expecting to see.”

Alt was blown away by the cost of living in Los Angeles, though he did say he was enjoying some aspects of the move.

“You’re paying for what you get to see. You’ve got the beach on one side and mountains on the other. You can’t really ask for a better geographical area.”

-Joe Alt

That $20.9 million signing bonus should help!

Alt is expected to make an immediate impact for Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers, who used their fifth overall pick to nab the lineman.

He seems ready to get to work with a humble outlook on his NFL future. Hopefully, he can fully adjust to his recent transition by season’s start.