With rental prices having experienced a 6.2 percent year-over-year increase, the second highest in decades, personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on “2023’s Best & Worst Places to Rent in America.” To help prospective renters get the most for their money, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 21 key indicators of rental attractiveness and quality of life.
The data set ranges from historical rental-price changes to the cost of living to job availability.
The best cities for renters proved to be Overland Park, Kan., Scottsdale, Ariz., Bismarck, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., Chandler, Ariz., Fargo, N.D., Plano, Texas, Lincoln, Neb., Irvine, Calif. and Nashua, N.H.
The worst cities to consider renting property in were Hialeah, Fla., Shreveport, La., Huntington, W.V., New Orleans, Chattanooga, Tenn., Akron, Ohio, Jackson, Miss., Memphis, Tenn., Cleveland, and Detroit.
Best versus worst takeaways from the survey were:
- Cheyenne, Wyo. has the highest rental affordability, with the lowest median annual gross rent divided by median annual household income at 15.39 percent. This is 2.4 times lower than in Hialeah, Fla., the city with the lowest at 36.49 percent.
- Little Rock, Ark. has the highest rental vacancy rate, 11.70 percent, which is 10.6 times higher than in Lewiston, Maine, the city with the lowest at 1.10 percent.
- Newark, N.J. has the highest share of renter-occupied housing units, 76.80 percent, which is 3.9 times higher than in Port St. Lucie, Fla., the city with the lowest at 19.60 percent.
- Brownsville, Texas, has the lowest cost-of-living index, 75, which is 2.5 times lower than in Honolulu and Pearl City, Hawaii, the cities with the highest at 184.
- Irvine, Calif. has the fewest violent crimes (per 1,000 residents), 0.51, which is 46.1 times fewer than in Memphis, Tenn., the city with the most at 23.52.