If this summer is anything like last year, many of the 25 plus million people who move from one place to another every year will be headed to a new home.
ConsumerAffairs has studied the struggle people have in trying to find a balance between rent and wages, the income needed to move to major cities, and the best (and worst) states for renters.
But one niche that we haven’t covered in our cost of living studies is the most expensive metro areas for people who want to rent. Well, consider that done.
Thanks to Lawn Love’s research on 2024’s Most Expensive Metro Areas for Renters, we now have a clear, comparative picture of 196 of the biggest U.S. metros. To make sure the results were comprehensive, the research was based on nine metrics including: average rent prices, year-over-year rent changes, and the share of renters spending over 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
The nutshell
Economic centers like Los Angeles, New York, and Miami landed at the top of the rankings with some of the highest rent prices.
Each of these metros share high living costs (housing, food, taxes, and healthcare) and a significant number of cost-burdened renters, as qualified in a separate Harvard study. Also, they are vulnerable to market dynamics such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) that can drive up rental prices by flipping foreclosed homes.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla., tops the list with the highest rental costs for one- and two-bedroom rentals, and a significant 62.6% of renters are cost-burdened, spending nearly 32% of their income on rent.
But, if you can find a good-paying job in Rock Springs, Wyo., you may want to jump on it. That metro has the lowest one-bedroom rental prices of the 196 areas studied, while Sioux Falls, S.D. has the lowest two-bedroom rental prices and the lowest percentage of cost-burdened renters.
There are some oddfellows showing up with significant increases despite having fewer than 500,000 residents. Those include Norwich, Conn., (No. 69), Lansing, Mich., (No. 101), Sierra Vista, Ariz., (No. 83), and Greenville, N.C., (No. 41). All have seen significant increases in rent prices in the past year, experiencing hikes of over 7%.
If you have a Carolina in your mind, consider yourself in luck. Both North and South Carolina became popular moving destinations in 2023.
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach (No. 66) takes the crown for the second year in a row. Asheville, N.C., (No. 36), Raleigh-Cary, N.C., (No. 179), Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C., (No. 136), and Greenville-Anderson, S.C. (No. 136) have experienced modest changes in rent prices.
From worst to first
How did all 196 metro areas stack up in the LawnLove study? Below is a searchable table on all the metro areas an interactive map.
