Real Estate
In Wichita, Kan., which ranked No. 1 in the nation, you pay about a $1 per square foot. In Boston, it’s nearly $5.
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 |
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:
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