New Girl: Ranking All The Main Characters As Roommates

New Girl helped to reinvent the format of the network hangout comedy by making the comedy exceedingly bizarre and the characters far wackier than anyone who ever existed on Friends. Their friend group was also expansive and always developing on New Girl.

As a result, the loft in Los Angeles always had different people coming in and out, sharing the bedrooms and hooking up with each other. Some characters, however, were much better suited to the loft lifestyle than others. There’s no denying that, on New Girl, some characters made for much better roommates than others. This list aims to rank them from worst to first!

9 Coach

Coach, played by Damon Wayans, Jr., comes in and out of New Girl over the years. At times, he’s a regular cast member and at other times, he’s missing completely. As such, he is highly unreliable.

Furthermore, Coach just doesn’t fit into the loft as well as the others do. Even when he leaves, he refuses to acknowledge any sort of sentimentality. It seems like Coach doesn’t maintain a great deal of love for his friends and it makes him the odd man out in the loft.

8 Reagan

Megan Fox’s Reagan character came into the show in season five to fill in for a pregnant Zooey Deschanel. Because her role as a main character was always temporary, she has similar unreliability to Coach.

The only reason Reagan ranks above Coach is that she is extremely practical. She helped put the structure of the loft in order, which helped ground the characters before they ever engaged in activities that might have gotten them in trouble. (Their antics had escalated to this point by the end of season four.)

7 Nick

What Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) lacks in being a good roommate, he makes up for in being a sweet and loyal friend. Still, though, Nick is in the loft for the entire duration of the show (the only character to do it) and he’s the one who is the least suited to independent living.

He is slovenly and irresponsible and always making a mess in the common living area. There are perks to living with him (his “Sauce” is an excellent bonus feature). But for the most part, he leaves the loft in disarray.

6 Aly

Nasim Pedrad joined New Girl later in the show’s run as Aly, Winston’s police officer partner-turned-spouse. Fans don’t get to see a lot of her as a roommate (and it’s mostly limited to living with Winston), but from what can be garnered, she’s a solid person with whom to cohabitate.

The one downside is that she takes after Winston in terms of pranking tendencies. Her practical jokes can get out of hand quickly, which means life as her roommate might be unpredictable and dangerous.

5 Ruth

Not much is known about Ruth as a roommate either. Schmidt and Cece’s daughter only comes around for the seventh season and she’s more a member of their family than she is a roommate.

However, there are still attributes of Ruth that make her difficult to live with. For one, she’s not a great communicator. For another, she requires a lot of assistance from adults because she’s not exactly equipped to live on her own. Yes, she’s a child, but having a child for a roommate is not ideal either.

4 Jess

Jess, portrayed by Deschanel, is the main character on New Girl, but this does not mean she’d be the best person to live with. She’s incredibly high-maintenance and, even though her heart’s in the right place, she has a tendency to get involved in other people’s affairs, often making them worse.

However, Jess is an incredible friend and a creative and crafty person. Anyone would be lucky to have a friend like Jess, even if she’s not necessarily the ideal roommate.

3 Winston

Like Aly, Winston (Lamorne Morris) is prone to pranks, as well. However, he ranks higher because fans have a much greater understanding of what he’s like as a roommate. He’s an incredibly loyal caretaker for his friends!

He also never really meddles in the affairs of others. Winston always strives to be supportive without being overbearing. And when he needs to, he keeps to himself. That makes Winston one of the best possible roommates.

2 Cece

On the other hand, Hannah Simone’s Cece character makes for an excellent roommate. She doesn’t spend as much time in the loft as her principal friends, but she’s clearly a quality roommate for her other friends (and, later, for Schmidt).

She cleans up after herself, she pulls her weight when it comes to household responsibilities, and she is always on time for every payment and every get-together. Cece always gives others the space they need to have a healthy living situation.

1 Schmidt

Max Greenfield’s portrayal of Schmidt was the breakout performance of New Girl. He’s not just hilarious, though. Schmidt is one hundred percent the best roommate in the entire loft.

An extremely high-maintenance man, Schmidt keeps the apartment perfectly spotless and in a high-functioning order. As the most affluent member of the friend group, Schmidt also funds a ton of antics and parties. Granted, one would not want one person to handle all of the finances, but Schmidt definitely takes pride in it. And who would say no to that?

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