The place $1,500 in hire will get you probably the most—and least—area in main U.S. cities

How a lot area you may get for a month-to-month hire fee of $1,500 relies upon totally on the place you reside.

In Manhattan, New York, it is a median of 216 sq. ft — roughly the dimensions of a bed room. However in Wichita, Kansas, the identical quantity will get you a median of 1,329 sq. ft — sufficient for a multi-room residence or perhaps a modest home, in response to RentCafe.

The rankings are based mostly on common hire and residence dimension knowledge for March 2025, from actual property knowledge platform Yardi Matrix, which is operated by the identical guardian firm as RentCafe. The rating used U.S. Census Bureau estimates to outline the 100 most populous cities within the contiguous U.S.

Listed below are the ten markets the place renters get the least area, on common, for $1,500 a month:

1. Manhattan, New York: 216 sq. ft
2. Brooklyn, New York: 297 sq. ft
3. Boston: 311 sq. ft
4. San Francisco: 325 sq. ft
5. Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey: 331 sq. ft
6. Queens, New York: 345 sq. ft
7. Los Angeles, California: 426 sq. ft
8. San Jose, California: 435 sq. ft
9. Irvine, California: 436 sq. ft
10. San Diego: 439 sq. ft

The costliest rental markets are typically massive coastal cities the place demand for housing far exceeds provide. Strict zoning legal guidelines, restricted new building and a longstanding scarcity of reasonably priced housing has led to smaller, expensive flats in locations like New York and San Francisco.

In distinction, renters get far extra space for his or her cash within the Midwest and Southern U.S., the place housing is extra reasonably priced and usable land is much less scarce.

Listed below are the ten cities the place $1,500 stretches the furthest by way of common quantity of area:

1. Wichita, Kansas: 1,329 sq. ft
2. Toledo, Ohio: 1,268 sq. ft
3. Oklahoma Metropolis: 1,247 sq. ft
4. Tulsa, Oklahoma: 1,231 sq. ft
5. Lubbock, Texas: 1,230 sq. ft
6. Memphis, Tennessee: 1,229 sq. ft
7. Fort Wayne, Indiana: 1,159 sq. ft
8. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: 1,138 sq. ft
9. El Paso, Texas: 1,137 sq. ft
10. Corpus Christi, Texas: 1,104 sq. ft

Happily for renters, flats are getting barely bigger, in response to an April report from RentCafe.

Studios averaged 457 sq. ft in 2024, up 13 sq. ft from the earlier 12 months. One-bedrooms rose to 735 sq. ft, and two-bedrooms hit 1,097 — modest will increase that give renters a bit extra space.

The rise is essentially as a result of a wave of recent residence building delivering bigger items, says RentCafe.

Nonetheless, in the most costly cities, $1,500 usually is not sufficient to cowl even a studio residence as rents proceed to rise. In New York Metropolis, for instance, the common hire for a studio is $3,700 a month, in response to RentHop.

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