This story was originally published in Multifamily Executive.
Establishing a budget is a common starting point for most prospective renters, but the unit size that a given price point will get them can vary widely from one city to the next.
Apartment List has estimated the square footage that $1,500 will buy in rental markets across the country, using the average price per square foot for available units listed on the site over the past six months.
Among the 20 largest cities in the U.S., Indianapolis offers renters the most square footage for their money. According to Apartment List data, a $1,500 budget there can fetch renters a spacious, 1,770-square-foot unit, reflecting an average rate of $0.85 per square foot. But in San Francisco, the most-expensive city for renters, $1,500 gets them only 340 square feet, on average, at a steep rate of $4.40 per square foot.
New York City comes in a close second behind San Francisco, with an average $1,500 apartment measuring about 350 square feet. Rounding out the top five most-expensive cities are Boston; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles, where $1,500 gets renters less than 600 square feet.
Apartment List notes that, “Interestingly, the median rent in San Francisco ($3,010) is only 3.5 times higher than the median in Indianapolis ($850). The fact that the disparity in median rents is less stark than the difference in price per square foot demonstrates that in cities where the price per square foot is highest, apartments tend to be smaller.”
Of the 20 largest cities, Detroit offers renters the second-most square footage for $1,500, at 1,750 square feet, on average. Las Vegas; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Phoenix round out the top five markets with the most-spacious $1,500 rental units.
Apartment List’s data are shown in interactive charts where users can see how average square footage for a $1,500 unit compares between town, city, and state markets.
This story was originally published in Multifamily Executive.