These Cities' Rents Are Easier on the Wallet

A recent report from real estate site RentCafé and data firm Yardi Matrix found the cities with the cheapest rents in the nation as of May 2018.

Wichita, Kan. had the lowest average rent, $634 per month, and Tulsa, Okla. was not far behind at $669. The report evaluated apartments in buildings with 50 or more units in 250 U.S. cities with populations of more than 100,000 people. In smaller housing markets Midland and Odessa, Texas, are adding jobs fast, helping to spur on average monthly rent price appreciation. Prices in these towns grew more than 35 percent over the past year, MarketWatch reports. The report says, “People are fleeing larger and more expensive cities for more affordable ones. However, these economic and demographic shifts often drive housing prices up in those markets.”

But chances are their rent hasn’t increased by a whole lot recently for renters from Wichita to the Big Apple. The average rent nationwide only increased 2 percent over the past year in May to $1,381 per month — the smallest annual rental growth since 2010. In many parts of the country, including Manhattan, Chicago and Austin, Texas, the average rent is the same now as it was a year ago, according to researchers. In these cities “large numbers of new apartments are giving renters more options to choose from, which results in price concessions,” the report noted.

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