30 Most Expensive Cities in the US to Rent a House
In this article we take a look at the 30 most expensive cities in the US to rent a house. Click to skip ahead and jump to the 10 most expensive cities in the US to rent a house.
The US is said to to be a capitalist's dream where anyone can succeed, even though it's likely that this is a statement only believed by the top 10%. After all, when you live through a pandemic and a months long lockdown which sees nearly 40 million people file for unemployment, while the billionaires actually earn over $600 billion more, you can guess where the system is skewed and the people it favors. If you're an average Joe attempting to make a decent, honest living, chances are you won't be a part of the capitalist dream.
No matter who you are or what kind of dreams and aspirations you have and what kind of background you come from, there are some basic necessities you require. Water, food, clothing and shelter are just some of these necessities, without which immediate survival is in peril. And there was a time when the basic necessities at the very least were affordable, even for those working minimum wage and without a decent education. Now, even if you've got a college degree and are saddled with student loans worth tens of thousands of dollars if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, you may still end up homeless. In fact, many homeless people in the US aren't jobless as you might assume, they have jobs but they still cannot pay rent, let alone consider buying a home. And if you look at the 25 most expensive cities in the US to buy a house, you'll see that in some of the higher end, more affluent cities, the median cost of a house can exceed $1 million. You have to be a millionaire just to buy a house in the median range. We'll wait as you come to terms with that saddening fact.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Since the costs of houses are so high and many people prefer not to have a mortgage hanging over their heads, these people head to renting a house. According to PEW, around 43 million households were renting their homes in 2016. This number has increased steadily in the last 11 years, ever since the Great Recession burst the housing bubble, and led to foreclosures of homes when the tenants were unable to pay mortgage. The irony was, even as homelessness increased, so did the number of vacant properties. Now most people do not immediately buy a house when they first leave their parent's home to study or look for a job. They first rent a house, and then slowly accumulate savings which they use to purchase a house. However, the rate of this transition from renting to purchasing has also decreased ever since the recession in 2009. The effect of this is that more people are now renting, thereby increasing demand for rented homes, thereby increasing the rent amount as well, which is now veering into the unaffordable territory. This is why rent burden rates are increasing.
So what exactly does rent burden mean? It means that more than 30% of your pre tax income goes into your rent. When such a large proportion of your income is going towards just rent, that leaves little for other basic necessities and savings, while luxuries are often completely out of the equation. This also leads to families under a high rent burden having to rely more on social services and a higher chance of defaulting on rents and eviction rates. After all, when you don't have any savings and are living paycheck to paycheck, just one missed check can result in your world turning upside down. To put this into numbers, just 19% of all renters were rent burdened back in 2001. This rate had increased to 38% in 2015. In 14 years, the rate doubled, which is a damning statistic if there ever was one.
An important thing to remember is that all the data here is pre-pandemic. Due to the aforementioned significant increase in unemployment during the Covid 19 pandemic, millions of people were unable to pay rent and were at risk of being evicted. The US government has taken steps to manage this, including forbidding eviction of tenants who meet certain requirements at least until the end of this year. This is likely to extend further as the pandemic shows no signs of going away. But the moment this moratorium is going to be lifted, we are likely to see a large number of evictions.
Even outside of the pandemic, the government does take some steps to ensure that people aren't overcharged, including rent controlling some properties, where only the government can increase prices and tenants can't be forced out. However, owners of such properties, such as the son in law of Donald Trump Jared Kushner, simply make life a living hell for these residents, such as abysmal conditions, construction going on at all hours to ensure that there is no peace and even the flush doesn't operate.
To determine our rankings we headed on over to the Office of Official Policy and Research, which had the latest data for fair market rents at a detailed level. We ranked them according to the fair market rent of each city, and our results were quite astonishing. In some of the cheapest cities to rent a house in, less than a $1,000 suffice for monthly rentals. In the more expensive cities, even $4,000 is not enough. We have focused our rankings on cities with a population greater than 200,000 people. So let's take a look at the cities where being homeless is more practical than renting a house, starting with number 30:
30. Anchorage, AK HUD Metro FMR Area
Even though as recently as a couple of years ago, rent in Anchorage decreased due to higher vacancies (hitting a 10 year high) and property owners were even giving concessions for renters to renew their lease or avail new ones, Anchorage still remains on of the most expensive cities to rent a house in.
Pixabay/Public Domain
29. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL HUD Metro FMR Area
West Palm Beach in Florida is no stranger to really high rental properties, but new apartment buildings are testing even that limit, which can range from $3,000 - $4,000 for just one month, and this is just for two bedroom units.
Pixabay/Public Domain
28. Yolo, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
No it is not the inspiration for the phrase YOLO (you only live once) though you might be forgiven for thinking that. You won't find things as funny however, when you see the exorbitant rents in the city.
akramer/Shutterstock.com
27. Tacoma, WA HUD Metro FMR Area
Not only is Tacom's rent already quite high, it has been increasing at one of the highest rates in the country as well, at nearly double the national average. An increase of 5% is a lot when you're already spending most of your disposable income on rent.
Pixabay/Public Domain
26. Bergen-Passaic, NJ HUD Metro FMR Area
The fair market rent for Bergen Passaic is higher than 98% of the FMR regions, with a four bedroom house rent costing about $2,481. Even a two bedroom house will set you back $1,623.
Shackleford-Photography/Shutterstock.com
25. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO MSA
Denver is already in the list of most expensive cities to buy a house in the US, and rents are quite high here as well, with a 1 bedroom apartment costing nearly $1,300 per month.
Pixabay/Public Domain
24. Monmouth-Ocean, NJ HUD Metro FMR Area
New Jersey appears again in the list of most expensive cities to rent a house in, where a 4 bedroom apartment can set you back at least $2,500!
Pixabay/Public Domain
23. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL HUD Metro FMR Area
Miami is famous for its houses and mansions, and there's a reason they are so famous; they're not attainable for the average man.
Pixabay/Public domain
22. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA
A one bedroom apartment will set you back $1,300 per month in rent, and you might have to skimp out on some luxuries to be able to make the rent each month.
Pixabay/Public Domain
21. Fort Lauderdale, FL HUD Metro FMR Area
Fort Lauderdale is one of the most famous cities in Florida, and also one of its most expensive if you're looking for a place to rent. Get a four bedroom apartment but only if you have $2,700 a month to give up for rent.
Pixabay/Public Domain
20. Boulder, CO MSA
Whether you're looking for one of the fastest growing cities or one of the richest cities, you'll find Boulder there and our list is no exception, cause it is quite expensive to rent a house in the city as well.
loneroc/Shutterstock.com
19. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro FMR Area
Of course Washington was going to make our list as it's one of the most affluent metros in the city, and in close proximity to some of the most important buildings in the country, because of which the rents here are quite high as well.
Pixabay/Public Domain
18. Vallejo-Fairfield, CA MSA
Vallejo may be one of the cheaper areas in Bay county but compared to the rest of the country, it is still extremely expensive.
jared ropelato/Shutterstock.com
17. Salinas, CA MSA
California is one of the most expensive states in the entire country, and it has a lot of cities with very expensive rent, some of which will show up later on in our list. Comparatively, Salinas might even seem cheap.
Ksenia Ragozina/Shutterstock.com
16. Westchester County, NY Statutory Exception Area
Just a one bedroom apartment in Westchester County will set you back $1,650, while a four bedroom apartment will cost $2,855.
Pixabay/Public Domain
15. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
It is one of the most popular and affluent areas in the entire country, and the rents reflect what it means to live there. This is also why Los Angeles has a really high homeless population.
Pixabay/Public Domain
14. Nassau-Suffolk, NY HUD Metro FMR Area
Many cities in the state of New York are very expensive to live in, with the obvious yet to come. Even in the Nassau-Suffolk area, a 4 bedroom apartments costs over $2,900!
David Brimm/Shutterstock.com
13. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA MSA
We told you California is extremely expensive and earns yet another place in this list.
Jeffrey T. Kreulen/Shutterstock.com
12. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA MSA
California again? Color me surprised. A 1 bedroom apartments in Oxnard will set you back $1,266.
Pixabay/Public Domain
11. Santa Rosa, CA MSA
Another affluent city in California, Santa Rosa is not just expensive for buying a house but also for renting one.
Click to skip ahead and jump to the 10 most expensive cities in the US to rent a house. See also 25 most expensive cities to buy a house and 20 most expensive cities to live in the world. Disclosure: 30 Most Expensive Cities in the US to Rent a House is originally published at Insider Monkey.
