As the spring leasing season kicks off, RentCafe took a deep dive into which cities renters can get the most and least space for $1,500.
To create its rankings of the 100 largest cities based off apartment size on a $1,500 budget, RentCafe analyzed rents and unit sizes from sister company Yardi Matrix. The Midwest and the South topped the list of where renters will get the most bang for their buck.
Wichita, Kansas, came in at No. 1 for having the largest apartments on a budget of $1,500. According to RentCafe, renters in the state’s largest city can get 1,597 square feet, which is the equivalent of a four-bedroom apartment. Toledo, Ohio, came in next on the list at 1,482 square feet, followed by Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at 1,447 and 1,431 square feet, respectively.
While Dallas ranked in the middle of RentCafe’s top 100, with an average apartment size of 881 square feet for $1,500, three other cities in the Lone Star State made the top 20: Lubbock, El Paso, and Corpus Christi at 1,316, 1,305, and 1,153, respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, renters can expect to sacrifice space in coastal urban markets. RentCafe ranked 11 California cities—Anaheim, Chula Vista, Fremont, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Santa Ana—in the bottom 20 for the least amount of apartment space on this budget. For example, in San Francisco, renters can only get 345 square feet for $1,500, and the amount is not enough for even 300 square feet in Manhattan.
