2022’s Most Expensive Metro Areas to Rent

Staff Report

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022

Renters are feeling the pain of the housing crisis, with record-breaking rental prices making it more difficult than ever to save for a home.

With median U.S. rent recently surpassing $2,000 a month, Lawn Lovecompared 185 rental markets to determine 2022’s Most Expensive Metro Areas to Rent.

We considered average rent prices (including year-over-year change), renters insurance premiums, and the share of renters spending 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities.

Considering real estate companies have been flipping foreclosed houses to rent at exorbitant rates, we also factored in the number of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

Check out the 10 most expensive (and 10 most affordable) metros for renters below, followed by key insights from our report. (Click here to see where your metro area ranks.)

Most Expensive Metros to Rent

Most Affordable Metros to Rent

Rank

Metro

Rank

Metro

1

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

1

Lake Charles, LA

2

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL

2

Grand Forks, ND-MN

3

Naples-Marco Island, FL

3

Fargo, ND-MN

4

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA

4

Odessa, TX

5

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

5

Columbus, IN

6

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

6

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

7

Urban Honolulu, HI

7

Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL

8

North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL

8

Topeka, KS

9

Napa, CA

9

Pittsburgh, PA

10

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

10

Sioux Falls, SD

 
 

Key insights:

  • Big city budgets: It’s hard to get shut-eye in The City That Never Sleeps when the cost of your rent keeps you up at night. Unsurprisingly, New York-Newark-Jersey City takes the title of Most Expensive Metro Area to Rent in 2022. High rental costs and abundant REITs brought this metro to the top. 

    Finding a decent apartment for rent around the Big Apple can seem impossible: Lines curl out the door for desperate tours of freshly listed apartments, some recently marked up by as much as 50%.

  • Cashed out in California: Silicon Valley, Beverly Hills, Napa Valley, and Hollywood — The Golden State is filled with riches, and you’ll need plenty of gold to live there. Half of our top 10 are located in California, such as San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad (No. 5) and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (No. 6). 

    It’s no shock that you need deep pockets to afford the Cali lifestyle: Pricey housing is a big factor contributing to the mass exodus from The Golden State. Napa (No. 9) has the second-highest overall average monthly rent price, $2,495.

  • Affordable avenues: Smaller metros generally fared better in our ranking. Rent in Southern metros like Huntsville, Alabama (No. 150), and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas (No. 168), remains affordable, but you don’t need to stick to a small city to save on rent. 

    Despite having populations with more than 2 million residents, larger metros like Pittsburgh (No. 177), St. Louis (No. 153), Cincinnati (No. 154), and Kansas City (No. 151) stood their ground through recent rent hikes. The average 1-bedroom is less than $1,000 in each of these metros. 

Our full ranking and analysis are available here: https://lawnlove.com/blog/most-expensive-metro-areas-to-rent/