Here’s Where $1,500 Can Get You the Most and Least Apartment Space in the US: Analysis

Study Shows Renting Is Now Cheaper Than Monthly Cost Of Owning A Home In Bay Area — (Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A sign is posted in front of an apartment building with available rentals on June 09, 2023 in San Francisco, California. According to a report by real estate company Redfin, owning a home in the San Francisco Bay Area is more expensive than renting. The report shows that owning a home in San Francisco can be as much as 139 percent more expensive than renting and even higher in San Jose where it is 165 percent more expensive. The national average for a typical home runs about 25 percent more to buy than to rent.

Renters looking for spacious apartments on a budget of $1,500 may not have much luck in big cities in the country's northern and western regions, according to a study.

RentCafe, an apartment search website, conducted an analysis of apartments in 200 US cities to determine where a renter could get the most space for a monthly budget of $1,500. The study ranked cities using data from Yardi Matrix and calculated the price per square foot derived from average rental prices and average size of apartments by city.

Where Do Renters Get the Most Apartment Space?

The study found that renters with a monthly budget of $1,500 are likely to get more apartment space in the Southeast and Southwest. More than half of the top 20 large cities offering the most apartment space for $1,500 are in the area. The other remaining cities are found in the Midwest.

Specifically, here are the 10 top cities where renters have the best luck finding the most apartment space for $1,500 per month.

1. Wichita, KS: 1,359 sq.ft.

2. Toledo, OH: 1,345 sq.ft.

3. Oklahoma City, OK: 1,302 sq.ft.

4. Tulsa, OK: 1,277 sq.ft.

5. Memphis, TN: 1,257 sq.ft.

6. Lubbock, TX: 1,220 sq.ft.

7. Fort Wayne, IN: 1,212 sq.ft.

8. Baton Rouge, LA: 1,166 sq.ft.

9. El Paso, TX: 1,147 sq.ft.

10. Omaha, NE: 1,126 sq.ft.

Where Do Renters Get the Least Apartment Space?

In contrast, apartments located in popular big cities and major coastal job hubs are most likely to have the least spaces available for renters with a monthly budget of $1,500. By state, California had the most number of cities where renters may need to sacrifice square footage to get an apartment with a $1,500 monthly rent.

Here are the top cities where a monthly rent budget of $1,500 does not go far.

1. Manhattan, NY: 228 sq.ft.

2. Brooklyn, NY: 300 sq.ft.

3. Boston, MA: 315 sq.ft.

4. San Francisco, CA: 334 sq.ft.

5. Jersey City, NJ: 340 sq.ft.

6. Queens, NY: 370 sq.ft.

7. Irvine, CA: 436 sq.ft.

8. Los Angeles, CA: 439 sq.ft.

9. San Jose, CA: 440 sq.ft.

10. San Diego, CA: 442 sq.ft.

The study focused on multifamily properties of 50 or more units. Additionally, the study focused on large cities or those with a population of more than 225,000.