What Will $1,500 Fetch for Apartment Renters?
In large coastal hubs, $1,500 is enough to rent a small studio apartment.
U.S. apartment renters can expect to live in 729 square feet of space on average for a monthly rent of $1,500. Those in coastal job hubs will pay more for less space, while cities in Southeast and Southwest markets are likely to enjoy more living space on a more affordable budget, according to a study by RentCafe.com.
The report ranked 200 U.S. cities using apartment data from Yardi Matrix to determine where renters can get the most space on a monthly budget of $1,500.
In Manhattan, that number will fetch the least rental space – just 228 square feet. Brooklyn renters can expect to get 300 square feet of space and renters in Queens can get roughly 370 square feet. Moving up the East Coast, Boston offers renters about 315 square feet for $1,500 per month.
West Coast markets offer similarly tight square footage, with San Francisco renters getting 334 square feet, Irvine, California, renters getting 436 square feet, and Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Diego renters getting 440 square feet for a rental rate of $1,500.
Meanwhile, markets in the Midwest boasted several large cities with ample living space at an affordable price. Wichita, Kansas, and Toledo, Ohio, offer the most spacious options on a limited budget, with average square footage of 1,359 square feet of living space for a monthly rent budget of $1,500 in Wichita and 1,345 square feet in Toledo. In the South, Oklahoma City renters can get 1,302 square feet for a monthly rental rate of $1,500, which typically equates to a three-bedroom rental. Nearby Tulsa, Oklahoma, boasts roughly 1,277 square feet for a $1,500 budget, and in Memphis, renters can live in 1,257 square feet of space.
Outside of larger metros, renters looking for a comfortable life in a small city and on a limited budget should head south, the report suggested. In Columbus, Georgia, renters get 1,432 square feet for a monthly rent of $1,500, and in McAllen, Texas, renters can expect about the same square footage within the same budget, enough for a four-bedroom apartment.
On the other hand, Silicon Valley’s Sunnyvale, California, was the nation’s top small city where this budget gets renters the least space — 406 square feet. In neighboring Pasadena and Glendale, just north of Los Angeles, $1,500 per month fetches only 427 and 444 square feet, respectively.