10 US Cities With the Highest Rents

October 10, 2016 by Paul Ausick

Demand for U.S. rental housing continues to rise, and with it, rents themselves have increased. The national average rent rose 4.7% year over year in September to $1,219.

A bit of good news for renters, though, is that rents declined a very modest 0.1% month over month in September, the first decline in nine months.

The demand for rental units has resulted in a construction boom for buildings with at least 50 rental units. According to a report from national apartment search website RENTCafé, some 320,000 new apartments are expected to become available this year in the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, up 50% compared with 2015.

Of the 20 cities where year-over-year rents have grown the most, eight are located in California, including the top two: Sacramento, where rents have risen 12.3% in the past 12 months, and Oakland, where rents are up 11.9%.

The 10 U.S. cities with the highest rents are:

  1. New York City (Manhattan): $4,083 per month
  2. San Francisco: $3,472
  3. Boston: $3,191
  4. Jersey City, New Jersey: $2,779
  5. New York City (Brooklyn): $2,550
  6. Oakland: $2,528
  7. San Jose, California: $2,526
  8. Los Angeles: $2,132
  9. Washington, D.C.: $2,019
  10. San Diego: $1,964

The 10 cities with the lowest rents are:

  1. Wichita, Kansas: $625 per month
  2. Toledo, Ohio: $659
  3. Tulsa, Oklahoma: $681
  4. Oklahoma City: $729
  5. Memphis, Tennessee: $736
  6. El Paso, Texas: $751
  7. Tucson, Arizona: $758
  8. Indianapolis, Indiana: $791
  9. Albuquerque, New Mexico: $814
  10. Greensboro, North Carolina: $824

To compile the report, RENTCafé’s research team analyzed rent data across the 75 largest cities in the United States. The report is exclusively based on apartment data related to buildings containing 50 or more units. See the report on the RENTCafé website.

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