Renters looking for a spacious apartment on a budget should head to the South and Midwest, according to new research.
More than half of the top 20 largest cities offering the most square footage for a $1,500 monthly rent are in the Southeast and Southwest, a new report from RentalCafe reveals.
In Wichita, Kansas, you can buy 127 square meters for your budget. That’s more than all the major cities in the US. That’s the equivalent of an entire house.
It’s nearly six times as much space as a renter in Manhattan, New York, where $1,500 will rent you just 230 square feet.
Nationally, $1,500 translates to an average of 729 square feet of apartment space, RentCafe found. But in some areas, renters on a budget can afford larger apartments.
Toledo, Ohio, ranks second on the list of large cities with the most apartments for $1,500, with an average size of 1,345 square feet.
According to RentCafe, this is enough space for three or even four bedrooms.
Here are a few locations in the South. In Oklahoma City, renters can get 1,302 square feet for a monthly rent of $1,500, which is typically for a three-bedroom home.
In Tulsa, renters can typically afford an apartment of 1,200 square feet.
At number five on the list is Memphis, Tennessee, where renters get an average of 1,200 square feet for their budget — the equivalent of a three-bedroom apartment.
The study shows how large the rent differences are in different parts of the US.
In Manhattan, New York, home to the nation’s most expensive rental market, residents can rent an average of just 228 feet for $1,500.
This is the equivalent of a very cramped studio apartment.
Across the bridge in Brooklyn, tenants with the same monthly budget can rent 28 square meters.
The New York City borough of Queens is also among the places where renters with a budget of $1,500 can rent less than 400 square feet of space — 370 square meters.
Wichita, Kansas, offers a whopping 1,359 square feet for the budget — the most of any major city in the U.S.
Toledo, Ohio, ranks second on the list of major cities with the most apartments available for $1,500 — averaging 1,345 square feet
In Oklahoma City, renters can get 1,302 square feet for a monthly rent of $1,500, which typically equates to a three-bedroom home
In Tulsa, renters can typically afford an apartment of 1,200 square feet
In Boston, Massachusetts, which ranks third among places with the least amount of room for your budget, renters can rent about 300 square feet, RentCafe found.
Jersey City, New Jersey, one of the most competitive rental markets in the Northeast, rounds out the top five cities with the least square footage within that same budget.
Here, apartment seekers can get a 31 m² space for $1,500 per month.
California, notorious for its high home prices, also tops the list of cities with the least amount of space for this amount: 32 of the top 50.
In San Francisco, the area is only 30 m², while Los Angeles, San Jose and San Diego have around 40 m². That is usually sufficient for a small studio.