Where is rent cheapest in a big American city? The Census Bureau's American Community Survey measures median rent in every city of 150,000+ people the same way, so it's the fairest yardstick for comparing all 186 of them.
The median across these cities is $1,661 a month. Here are both ends.
The 15 cheapest
| City | Median gross rent, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Toledo, OH | $908 |
| Cleveland, OH | $961 |
| Shreveport, LA | $964 |
| Akron, OH | $968 |
| Brownsville, TX | $982 |
| Wichita, KS | $989 |
| Springfield, MO | $1,007 |
| St. Louis, MO | $1,044 |
| Fort Wayne, IN | $1,051 |
| Laredo, TX | $1,062 |
| El Paso, TX | $1,066 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $1,081 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | $1,081 |
| Rochester, NY | $1,090 |
| Detroit, MI | $1,091 |
The cheapest cities are mostly in the Midwest and South, including three in Ohio (Toledo, Cleveland, and Akron) and three Texas cities on the Mexican border (Brownsville, Laredo, and El Paso).
The 15 most expensive
| City | Median gross rent, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Irvine, CA | $3,091 |
| Fremont, CA | $2,914 |
| Sunnyvale, CA | $2,889 |
| San Jose, CA | $2,674 |
| Santa Clarita, CA | $2,596 |
| Huntington Beach, CA | $2,507 |
| Bellevue, WA | $2,496 |
| San Francisco, CA | $2,448 |
| San Diego, CA | $2,414 |
| Pembroke Pines, FL | $2,373 |
| Rancho Cucamonga, CA | $2,370 |
| Oceanside, CA | $2,370 |
| Elk Grove, CA | $2,352 |
| Arlington, VA | $2,347 |
| Chula Vista, CA | $2,338 |
12 of the 15 are in California, most of them in Silicon Valley, Orange County and the San Diego area. Median rent in Irvine, CA is 3.4 times Toledo, OH's.
What "median gross rent" means
Gross rent is what renters actually pay, including utilities, across every rental in the city, not just the ones listed for rent today. That makes it lower than asking rents in most cities, because long-time tenants often pay below today's market price. For current asking rents in 30 large cities, see rent or buy by city, which uses live listing data.
The survey covers 2024, so it trails today's market by about two years. Rent rose 35% in the typical big city from 2019 to 2024, and asking rents have been flat or falling in many cities since.
Cheap rent isn't the same as affordable
Rent is only half the equation. Toledo's median rent fits a much smaller paycheck than Irvine's, but wages differ too. HUD counts a household as cost-burdened when housing takes more than 30% of income; how much you need to earn to rent runs that math for 30 cities.
Pick any city in the tables for its rent and home values side by side, or forecast a specific ZIP code with Predictye Rent.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, for every US city of 150,000+ people. Medians are used only where the margin of error is within 10% of the estimate.
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