Spring House Hunt

Report ranks Boston as the third most expensive city for renters

The news wasn't great for buyers either Where are the least expensive places to rent a home?

. Carolyn Bick

By Eileen Woods

1 minute to read

Boston moved up two spots to be the third most expensive market for renters in the country, according to a report released Monday by Zumper, the apartment rental site.

In June 2018, Zumper ranked Boston fifth — behind San Francisco, New York, San Jose, and Los Angeles — with a median rent of $2,300 for a one-bedroom unit. Now only San Francisco and New York are costlier than Boston, which has a median rent of $2,500 for a one-bedroom apartment — a year-over-year increase of 8.7 percent. The median cost to rent a two-bedroom unit here is $2,850, according to the report.

The top 10 most expensive rental markets in the United States, according to the report, are:

  1. San Francisco ($3,700)
  2. New York ($2,980)
  3. Boston ($2,500)
  4. San Jose ($2,430)
  5. Los Angeles ($2,250)
  6. Oakland ($2,240)
  7. Washington, D.C. ($2,210)
  8. Seattle (1,880)
  9. Miami ($1,790)
  10. Santa Ana, Calif. ($1,780)

If you are looking to relocate somewhere more affordable, Apartment Guide came out Monday with its list of the Top 10 most affordable cities for renters, with costs ranging from $401 to $510 a month:

  1. Florence, Ala.
  2. Enid, Okla.
  3. Siloam Spring, Ark.
  4. Charleston, Ill.
  5. Lawton, Okla.
  6. Fort Smith, Ark.
  7. Asheboro, N.C.
  8. Newburgh, Ind.
  9. Decatur, Ala.
  10. Waynesville, Mo.

The news wasn’t rosy for Boston-area buyers, either. The RealtyHop Affordability Index for June, released Monday, ranked Boston the eighth least affordable market for home buyers. The site put the median home price $645,000, which requires the average household to spend 58.14 percent of its monthly income to own a home.

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