Renting

What size apartment will $1,500 get you in Boston? It’s as squished as you imagine.

In Wichita, Kan., which ranked No. 1 in the nation, you pay about a dollar per square foot. In Boston, it's nearly $5.

If you want more square footage for your dollar, you won't find it in the New York or California either. Adobe Stock

August 19, 2024

1 minute to read

If you’re looking for more apartment space for your dollar, head to the South and Midwest.

In Boston, you get 315 square feet for $1,500 a month, according to a report RentCafe.com published on Aug. 1. Boston ranked 98th among the nation’s largest cities, right behind Manhattan and Brooklyn, N.Y.

In Boston proper, the median rent in August for a one-bedroom apartment stood at $2,705, making it the fourth-priciest rental market in the nation, according to an analysis by ApartmentAdvisor. The median rent for a studio apartment was $2,390.

In Wichita, Kan., the No. 1 city, you can get 1,359 square feet, or about $1.10 per square foot. (In Boston, it’s $4.76.) Other large cities offering more than 1,000 square feet for $1,500 a month include Indianapolis; Greensboro, N.C.; Kansas City, Mo; Columbus, Ohio; and St. Louis.

Here are the cities where you get the most and least square footage for $1,500:

RANK	CITY	SQ. FT. for $1,500	RANK	CITY	SQ. FT. for $1,500
1.	Wichita, Kan.	1,359	91.	San Diego	442
2.	Toledo, Ohio	1,345	92.	San Jose, Calif.	440
3.	Oklahoma City	1,302	93.	Los Angeles	439
4.	Tulsa, Okla.	1,277	94.	Irvine, Calif.	436
5.	Memphis	1,257	95.	Queens, N.Y.	370
6.	Lubbock, Texas	1,220	96.	Jersey City	340
7.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	1,212	97.	San Francisco	334
8.	Baton Rouge, La.	1,166	98.	Boston	315
9.	El Paso	1,147	99.	Brooklyn, N.Y.	300
10.	Omaha	1,126	100.	Manhattan, N.Y.	228

Source: Rent Café

Nationwide, the average apartment space that a renter can get for $1,500 is 729 square feet, according to the report.

The apartment search website used a price per square foot derived from average rents and the average size of apartments by city from Yardi Matrix data, according to the methodology of the report. Yardi Matrix is a national real estate data and research firm. The analysis includes 200 of the largest cities in the United States, those with a population of more than 225,000 inhabitants.

The report states that the major coastal job hubs are where renters on a fixed budget have to sacrifice space for opportunities the areas offer.

In New England, Providence you can get 200 more square feet for $1,500 than you can in Boston. You can get 328 more square feet in Worcester, and 433 more in Springfield: