|
In some cities, you get what is considered a walk-in closet of a
McMansion.
It’s not totally fair to compare rents in Tulsa with rents in San
Francisco because household incomes are different as well. One way to look at
this is to figure out how big of an apartment a household can rent by paying
30% of the local median household income in rent. And you guessed it, in a
number of cities the local median household income, as high as it may be, can
only rent what would be considered a walk-in closet in a McMansion.
Many households in expensive cities such as New York City or San Francisco
pay far more in rent than the 30% of their pre-tax household income. 50% is
not unheard of. The median asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco currently runs $4,600 a month.
A household signing the lease today would have to make $184,000 a year
before taxes to spend 30% of their income on rent. If that household makes
“only” $110,000 in income, rent would eat up 50% of pre-tax household income.
So here is a look at the 100 most populous US cities (with New York City
broken up into its boroughs), and what size apartment a household earning the
median household income can afford by paying 30% of their pre-tax income in
rent.
The analysis was done by RENTCafe, using average rent data from Yardi Matrix and
median household income data from the Census Bureau’s 2017 ACS, adjusted for
inflation to reflect 2019 values. Household income includes all forms of pretax
income from wages, interest, dividends, Social Security, etc., earned by all
members over the age of 15, but does not include capital gains. Median
household income means that 50% earn more, and 50% earn less.
Average apartment size varies by city.
Before we get to what apartment size they can afford, there is the issue
of average size, which varies sharply by city. The table below shows the 10
cities with the smallest average apartments. They include the usual suspects
with the highest rents: Honolulu with the most minuscule average apartment
size of 561 square feet, but also three boroughs of New York City (Brooklyn,
Manhattan, Queens), Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Chicago … and
the unusual suspect, Paradise, NV.
|
City/Borough
|
State
|
Avg size
|
Avg. rent
|
1
|
Honolulu
|
HI
|
561
|
$1,603
|
2
|
Brooklyn
|
NY
|
697
|
$2,796
|
3
|
Seattle
|
WA
|
698
|
$2,045
|
4
|
Newark
|
NJ
|
704
|
$1,176
|
5
|
Manhattan
|
NY
|
723
|
$4,113
|
6
|
Queens
|
NY
|
731
|
$2,195
|
7
|
Washington
|
DC
|
745
|
$2,133
|
8
|
Chicago
|
IL
|
747
|
$1,898
|
9
|
San Francisco
|
CA
|
748
|
$3,607
|
10
|
Paradise
|
NV
|
753
|
$863
|
At the other end of the spectrum are the cities with the largest average
apartment sizes, all of them close to 1,000 square feet, and the sport
reasonable average rents:
|
City/Borough
|
State
|
Avg size
|
Avg. rent
|
1
|
Henderson
|
NV
|
991
|
$1,261
|
2
|
Chesapeake
|
VA
|
979
|
$1,207
|
3
|
Atlanta
|
GA
|
978
|
$1,425
|
4
|
Virginia Beach
|
VA
|
972
|
$1,176
|
5
|
Jacksonville
|
FL
|
966
|
$1,063
|
6
|
Gilbert
|
AZ
|
962
|
$1,240
|
7
|
Raleigh
|
NC
|
960
|
$1,164
|
8
|
Orlando
|
FL
|
958
|
$1,402
|
9
|
North Las Vegas
|
NV
|
958
|
$1,050
|
10
|
Scottsdale
|
AZ
|
948
|
$1,471
|
So what size apartment can that household afford?
To answer that question, RENTCafe looked at how many square feet you can
rent with 30% of the median income of renter-occupied households, given the
average rent per square foot in that city.
In only 14 of the 100 cities can 30% of this median household income rent
an apartment that is larger than average for that city. At the top is
Gilbert, AZ, where this household can afford the largest apartment (1,174
square feet). Some of the cities are on the list because household incomes
are very high, and others are on this list because rents are low and
apartments are on average larger:
|
City/Borough
|
State
|
Afford size
|
Avg size
|
Avg. rent
|
1
|
Gilbert
|
AZ
|
1,174
|
962
|
$1,240
|
2
|
Plano
|
TX
|
1,137
|
935
|
$1,278
|
3
|
Wichita
|
KS
|
965
|
792
|
$643
|
4
|
Tulsa
|
OK
|
960
|
820
|
$685
|
5
|
Chandler
|
AZ
|
1,069
|
940
|
$1,287
|
6
|
Oklahoma City
|
OK
|
973
|
849
|
$754
|
7
|
Virginia Beach
|
VA
|
1,077
|
972
|
$1,176
|
8
|
North Las Vegas
|
NV
|
1,033
|
958
|
$1,050
|
9
|
Irving
|
TX
|
912
|
852
|
$1,146
|
10
|
Paradise
|
NV
|
790
|
753
|
$863
|
11
|
Arlington
|
VA
|
902
|
866
|
$2,149
|
12
|
Fremont
|
CA
|
843
|
831
|
$2,406
|
13
|
Henderson
|
NV
|
995
|
991
|
$1,261
|
14
|
Bakersfield
|
CA
|
862
|
861
|
$992
|
And finally, here are all 100 cities in order of how big or tiny of an
apartment, in square feet, these folks can rent with 30% of the median
household income. For example, in Brooklyn’s case, these folks can afford to
rent a bare room of 15 by 18 square feet, which is not exactly huge. You can
search the list with the search function in your browser. If your smartphone
clips the table on the right, hold your device in landscape position:
|
City/Borough
|
State
|
Afford size
|
Avg size
|
Avg. rent
|
1
|
Brooklyn
|
NY
|
265
|
697
|
$2,796
|
2
|
Boston
|
MA
|
266
|
813
|
$3,325
|
3
|
Manhattan
|
NY
|
290
|
723
|
$4,113
|
4
|
Los Angeles
|
CA
|
333
|
792
|
$2,463
|
5
|
Oakland
|
CA
|
340
|
794
|
$2,684
|
6
|
Philadelphia
|
PA
|
368
|
798
|
$1,592
|
7
|
Chicago
|
IL
|
370
|
747
|
$1,898
|
8
|
Cleveland
|
OH
|
372
|
805
|
$1,076
|
9
|
Jersey City
|
NJ
|
372
|
832
|
$2,925
|
10
|
Detroit
|
MI
|
376
|
803
|
$1,055
|
11
|
Hialeah
|
FL
|
376
|
830
|
$1,363
|
12
|
Miami
|
FL
|
388
|
892
|
$1,692
|
13
|
San Francisco
|
CA
|
407
|
748
|
$3,607
|
14
|
Queens
|
NY
|
419
|
731
|
$2,195
|
15
|
Newark
|
NJ
|
437
|
704
|
$1,176
|
16
|
Long Beach
|
CA
|
443
|
797
|
$2,006
|
17
|
Buffalo
|
NY
|
448
|
781
|
$1,061
|
18
|
Honolulu
|
HI
|
463
|
561
|
$1,603
|
19
|
Washington
|
DC
|
465
|
745
|
$2,133
|
20
|
Minneapolis
|
MN
|
465
|
790
|
$1,551
|
21
|
Seattle
|
WA
|
479
|
698
|
$2,045
|
22
|
New Orleans
|
LA
|
515
|
897
|
$1,133
|
23
|
Santa Ana
|
CA
|
516
|
862
|
$1,922
|
24
|
Milwaukee
|
WI
|
519
|
854
|
$1,158
|
25
|
Pittsburgh
|
PA
|
521
|
816
|
$1,210
|
26
|
Portland
|
OR
|
534
|
769
|
$1,480
|
27
|
Baltimore
|
MD
|
541
|
823
|
$1,253
|
28
|
St. Paul
|
MN
|
544
|
829
|
$1,260
|
29
|
San Jose
|
CA
|
551
|
885
|
$2,706
|
30
|
San Diego
|
CA
|
552
|
876
|
$2,154
|
31
|
Cincinnati
|
OH
|
563
|
871
|
$972
|
32
|
Chula Vista
|
CA
|
565
|
866
|
$1,729
|
33
|
Denver
|
CO
|
572
|
840
|
$1,618
|
34
|
Stockton
|
CA
|
573
|
790
|
$1,144
|
35
|
Anaheim
|
CA
|
585
|
845
|
$1,786
|
36
|
Riverside
|
CA
|
589
|
844
|
$1,538
|
37
|
Sacramento
|
CA
|
600
|
823
|
$1,370
|
38
|
Baton Rouge
|
LA
|
611
|
942
|
$1,040
|
39
|
Tampa
|
FL
|
619
|
925
|
$1,298
|
40
|
Richmond
|
VA
|
620
|
867
|
$1,081
|
41
|
Tucson
|
AZ
|
621
|
757
|
$856
|
42
|
Atlanta
|
GA
|
621
|
978
|
$1,425
|
43
|
St. Louis
|
MO
|
632
|
840
|
$923
|
44
|
Nashville
|
TN
|
639
|
889
|
$1,335
|
45
|
Fresno
|
CA
|
640
|
895
|
$1,059
|
46
|
St. Petersburg
|
FL
|
642
|
873
|
$1,282
|
47
|
Reno
|
NV
|
652
|
853
|
$1,237
|
48
|
Madison
|
WI
|
654
|
845
|
$1,233
|
49
|
Orlando
|
FL
|
656
|
958
|
$1,402
|
50
|
Aurora
|
CO
|
668
|
841
|
$1,325
|
51
|
Toledo
|
OH
|
678
|
812
|
$713
|
52
|
Dallas
|
TX
|
679
|
844
|
$1,199
|
53
|
Glendale
|
AZ
|
695
|
793
|
$953
|
54
|
Albuquerque
|
NM
|
717
|
812
|
$869
|
55
|
Irvine
|
CA
|
717
|
917
|
$2,380
|
56
|
Norfolk
|
VA
|
719
|
881
|
$1,071
|
57
|
Phoenix
|
AZ
|
727
|
799
|
$1,037
|
58
|
Colorado Springs
|
CO
|
741
|
837
|
$1,122
|
59
|
Winston-Salem
|
NC
|
750
|
918
|
$841
|
60
|
Mesa
|
AZ
|
751
|
810
|
$1,009
|
61
|
Austin
|
TX
|
751
|
864
|
$1,369
|
62
|
San Antonio
|
TX
|
756
|
853
|
$1,018
|
63
|
Houston
|
TX
|
757
|
879
|
$1,094
|
64
|
Louisville
|
KY
|
766
|
932
|
$941
|
65
|
Arlington
|
TX
|
771
|
824
|
$1,012
|
66
|
Durham
|
NC
|
777
|
937
|
$1,132
|
67
|
Fort Worth
|
TX
|
788
|
871
|
$1,088
|
68
|
Lubbock
|
TX
|
788
|
914
|
$927
|
69
|
Paradise
|
NV
|
790
|
753
|
$863
|
70
|
Lincoln
|
NE
|
796
|
943
|
$959
|
71
|
Indianapolis
|
IN
|
797
|
879
|
$858
|
72
|
Kansas City
|
MO
|
798
|
899
|
$979
|
73
|
El Paso
|
TX
|
800
|
814
|
$770
|
74
|
Memphis
|
TN
|
806
|
910
|
$788
|
75
|
Garland
|
TX
|
807
|
870
|
$1,036
|
76
|
Lexington
|
KY
|
810
|
901
|
$898
|
77
|
Las Vegas
|
NV
|
820
|
894
|
$1,051
|
78
|
Charlotte
|
NC
|
825
|
944
|
$1,190
|
79
|
Jacksonville
|
FL
|
838
|
966
|
$1,063
|
80
|
Fremont
|
CA
|
843
|
831
|
$2,406
|
81
|
Corpus Christi
|
TX
|
845
|
849
|
$965
|
82
|
Greensboro
|
NC
|
858
|
937
|
$876
|
83
|
Bakersfield
|
CA
|
862
|
861
|
$992
|
84
|
Fort Wayne
|
IN
|
866
|
882
|
$760
|
85
|
Columbus
|
OH
|
878
|
885
|
$918
|
86
|
Raleigh
|
NC
|
893
|
960
|
$1,164
|
87
|
Arlington
|
VA
|
902
|
866
|
$2,149
|
88
|
Omaha
|
NE
|
905
|
924
|
$905
|
89
|
Irving
|
TX
|
912
|
852
|
$1,146
|
90
|
Chesapeake
|
VA
|
914
|
979
|
$1,207
|
91
|
Scottsdale
|
AZ
|
924
|
948
|
$1,471
|
92
|
Tulsa
|
OK
|
960
|
820
|
$685
|
93
|
Wichita
|
KS
|
965
|
792
|
$643
|
94
|
Oklahoma City
|
OK
|
973
|
849
|
$754
|
95
|
Henderson
|
NV
|
995
|
991
|
$1,261
|
96
|
North Las Vegas
|
NV
|
1,033
|
958
|
$1,050
|
97
|
Chandler
|
AZ
|
1,069
|
940
|
$1,287
|
98
|
Virginia Beach
|
VA
|
1,077
|
972
|
$1,176
|
99
|
Plano
|
TX
|
1,137
|
935
|
$1,278
|
100
|
Gilbert
|
AZ
|
1,174
|
962
|
$1,240
|
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