Dwellsy’s June data report reveals that, overall, one-bedroom apartment rent has barely ticked upward since last month—and is actually less expensive than a year ago. Unfortunately, that’s cold comfort for renters in these 20 hot markets.
Los Altos, CA (August 2023) – It’s really, really hot out there, but apartment dwellers can sit back and chill—financially, anyway. While Dwellsy CEO and cofounder Jonas Bordo can’t guarantee a refreshing breeze or lower humidity, he can confirm that barring a few exceptions, apartment prices are…well…relatively cool.
“From May to June 2023, asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose just 0.4 percent, or $5,” says Bordo, coauthor along with Hannah Hildebolt of Everything You Need to Know About Renting But Didn’t Know to Ask: All the Insider Dirt to Help You Get the Best Deal and Avoid Disaster (Matt Holt, August 2023, ISBN: 978-1-6377439-2-8, $21.95). “That’s way below inflation and in line with a normal seasonal rent cycle. Prices typically rise during the summer.
“Even better, rent is down 1.6 percent, or $21, from June 2022,” he adds. “Maybe you can use the money you’re saving on year-over-year rent to crank up the AC a degree or two!”
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. Some cities are experiencing surges in demand (and consequently, asking rent), and others are notoriously expensive regardless of what the rest of the market is doing. Having data like this is important for anyone who is relocating, or who just wants to know how their city fits into the broader rental market.
“If you’re just browsing rental listings in various cities, it can be nearly impossible to pick out developing trends and plan for the future,” Bordo says. “It’s also tough to determine which prices are fair, especially since median asking rent can fluctuate month to month.”
Dwellsy, the largest home rental listing platform in the country, regularly mines its 14+ million residential rental listings for statistics and data. Because Dwellsy allows landlords to post listings free of charge, it has a pool of data that’s more diverse—and more representative of the true rental landscape—than that of pay-to-play listing services.
Each month, Dwellsy breaks down this data regionally across the U.S. so renters and landlords can see up-to-date trends in rental housing and current affordability in over 250 U.S. markets. For a more detailed look at Dwellsy’s rent price analysis methodology, see this article.
When compiling this list of most expensive cities for apartment-dwellers, Bordo has focused on one-bedroom units because they are similar to two-bedroom apartments in terms of inventory, but are more price-accessible.
Top Ten Most Expensive Large Cities for One-Bedroom Apartment Rentals
Once again, the New York metro area—which includes Long Island and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania—has taken what Bordo calls the “sad trophy.” Not only does it have the highest asking rent at $3,201, it has also seen the highest year-over-year rent increase: 9.8 percent, which is well above inflation. At least the Big Apple saw a rare month-over-month decline of about $40 from May to June. (Yay?)
California also deserves a shoutout, claiming five of these ten spots.
“It’s not all bad news, though,” points out Bordo. “Seven of these cities have flat or falling year-over-year rents. The price of a one-bedroom apartment in Miami is 12.5 percent cheaper than it was last June!”
This table shows which large cities had the most expensive June 2023 asking rent for one-bedroom apartments.
| Rank | Metropolitan Statistical Area | Median One-Bedroom Apartment Asking Rent, June 2023 | Change Since
June 2022 |
| 1 | New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA | $ 3,201 | + 9.8% |
| 2 | Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH | $ 2,535 | – 4.9% |
| 3 | San Francisco-Oakland- Fremont, CA | $ 2,500 | + 2.5% |
| 4 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $ 2,395 | + 2.3% |
| 5 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA | $ 2,100 | 0.0% |
| 6 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $ 2,060 | – 1.8% |
| 7 | San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA | $ 2,000 | – 8.9% |
| 8 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $ 1,835 | – 3.7% |
| 9 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $ 1,750 | – 1.4% |
| 9 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | $ 1,750 | – 12.5% |
Top Ten Most Expensive Small Cities for One-Bedroom Apartment Rentals
Once again, California is coming in hot with high rents. Six of these markets are located in the Golden State, including number-one Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, which has an asking rent of $2,186.
“Three of these cities have seen a year-over-year decline in rent,” Bordo says. “But if you scan the list, two markets will probably stand out for the opposite reason. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, New York, has experienced a 22.5 percent rise in rent since June 2022, and North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida, is a close contender with a 19 percent increase. Ouch.”
This table shows which small cities had the most expensive June 2023 asking rent for one-bedroom apartments.
| Rank | Metropolitan Statistical Area | Median One-Bedroom Apartment Asking Rent, June 2023 | Change Since June 2022 |
| 1 | Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA | $2,186 | +4.1% |
| 2 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $1,950 | +2.9% |
| 2 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | $1,950 | -1.3% |
| 4 | Salinas, CA | $1,860 | +7.8% |
| 5 | Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY | $1,838 | +22.5% |
| 6 | Bozeman, MT | $1,825 | -2.7% |
| 7 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | $1,816 | -2.6% |
| 8 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $1,800 | +7.5% |
| 8 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $1,800 | +1.0% |
| 10 | North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL | $1,785 | +19.0% |
“Looking ahead, I see no reason to suspect that the long-standing nationwide moderation trend will break anytime soon,” concludes Bordo. “Record numbers of new apartments, inflation, and high interest rates will all contribute to keeping apartment rent fairly flat. Of course, all bets are off if you live in a market where demand is surging faster than the heat index!”
About Jonas Bordo:
Jonas Bordo is the coauthor, along with Hannah Hildebolt, of the upcoming book Everything You Need to Know About Renting But Didn’t Know to Ask: All the Insider Dirt to Help You Get the Best Deal and Avoid Disaster. He is the CEO and cofounder of Dwellsy, the free residential rental marketplace that makes it easy to find hard-to-find rentals.
About the Book:
Everything You Need to Know About Renting But Didn’t Know to Ask: All the Insider Dirt to Help You Get the Best Deal and Avoid Disaster (Matt Holt, August 2023, ISBN: 978-1-6377439-2-8, $21.95) is available for pre-order from major online booksellers.
About Dwellsy:
Dwellsy is the renter’s marketplace: a comprehensive residential home rentals marketplace based on the radical concept that true, organic search in a free ecosystem creates more value than the pay-to-play model embraced by all of the current rental listing services.
