The 10 most affordable US cities for renters
Jeff Roberson/AP
- Jefferson City, MO, ranks as the most affordable metro area in the US for renters.
- The top 10 metro areas all had over 62% of renters paying under 30% of their income on rent.
- Metro areas in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming rounded out the top five.
For the most affordable rent, Americans may need to move to cities in Missouri, Wisconsin, or Wyoming.
Jefferson City, MO, ranked as the most affordable metro area for US renters, according to data from the US Census Bureau. For the top cities, Insider analyzed the share of residents with affordable rent, meaning the percent of residents who pay less than 30% of their income on rent.
Over two-thirds of renters in Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri with just around 43,000 residents, had affordable rent, as median household income was over $71,000, yet median gross rent was just over $800 a month.
Lima, a city of over 35,000 residents in northwest Ohio, ranked second, with around 68% of rents able to afford rent. The median gross rent was just under $900, while median household income was about $60,000.
Wisconsin had three metro areas in the top 10: Sheboygan, Appleton, and Racine. All three, whose median gross rents were under $1,000, are concentrated in the eastern side of the state. Around two-thirds of renters in Sheboygan and Appleton had affordable rent, while 63% in Racine had affordable rent.
Metro areas in Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, North Carolina, and Washington rounded out the top 10, all with around 63% or more with affordable rent.
The data supports recent findings that wealthier Americans are moving to Montana and Idaho for more affordable rent.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the metro areas with the lowest percentage of people with affordable rent were concentrated in Florida, particularly in Homosassa Springs, Naples, Port St. Lucie, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale.
The New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, which has some of the highest rents in the nation, ranked in the middle of the pack, with over 47% of residents having affordable rent.
The rental market nationwide has been softening, though the median US asking rent is still over $2,000 — on par with a record high set last year. Many people are still holding onto their rentals given a still-tight home-buying market, though rent increases may be slowing.
A Redfin report from earlier this month revealed landlords are giving out one-time discounts or the first few months free to attract renters, which have caused effective rent to fall in some areas.
Per Redfin, median asking rents rose 4.6% from August 2022 to August 2023 in the Midwest and 1.2% in the Northeast over the same period. Median asking rents fell 1.1% in the West and 0.3% during the same period.
Rent has fallen over 10% over the last year in Lincoln, Fresno, St. Louis, and Tampa, online rental platform Zumper found.
Have you recently moved to a new state or region due to cheaper rent? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@insider.com.
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