The Most Expensive US Cities For One-Bedroom Apartments

The price of housing can be — and often is — an almost constant concern for many Americans today. Between surging home prices (not to mention high interest rates on mortgage loans; here's how much a 1% difference can make) and ever-increasing rent, it can be difficult to find an affordable place to live.

It should come as good news then that the U.S. rental market has technically cooled, even if only slightly. According to Zumper's National Rent Report and Index for September 2024 (which looks at asking rents), the median rent for one-bedrooms in the U.S. decreased by 0.1%, while two-bedrooms fell 0.2%. As Zumper's CEO Anthemos Georgiades explained in the report, "September signaled a cooling off in the hot moving season as national one- and two-bedroom rents both decreased on a monthly basis — a trend which we have not seen in the last five months."

It's also worth mentioning that this cooling in rental prices coincides with the Federal Reserve's decision to finally cut interest rates for the first time in four years. Plus, seasonal changes in rental patterns can also affect overall rental prices. Said Georgiades, "As we transition into fall, this shift in the rental market aligns with the typical seasonal patterns we have finally returned to after the last few years of unconventional fluctuations." As of September, the median monthly rent price for a one-bedroom in the U.S. was $1,533 while the median rent for a two-bedroom was $1,912. Let's take a look now at the cities facing far more substantial rent rates, some with no signs of slowing down.

While, nationally, rent might be cooling, the same can't be said for all markets. In fact, many U.S. rental markets continue to increase in price (though these places might still be cheaper to rent than to buy).

Most notably, New York City maintains its place at the top of the list for the most expensive rent, reaching the all-time high rent price of $4,500 for a one-bedroom unit in August 2024, and maintaining that rate in September (this monthly rent is a 10.3% jump compared to the same time in 2023). The high rents in New York are even starting to bleed into other neighboring rental markets. For instance, in New Haven, Connecticut, rent prices jumped over 38% annually, the biggest annual growth rate for one-bedroom rents in the entire nation. In New Jersey's Jersey City, meanwhile, (just across the Hudson River from New York) also has some of the highest rents in the country with a monthly one-bedroom rent rate of $3,300.

San Francisco also continues to experience ever-increasing rent prices, with one-bedrooms hitting $3,170 in September (after already hitting a four-year high in August). Annually, one bedroom rental rates have gone up about 6% in San Francisco since the same time last year. Miami ranks fourth in one-bedroom rent prices with monthly rates reaching $2,810 in September (an annual increase of 4.5% compared to 2023). Rounding out the top five most expensive rental cities is Boston, with a one-bedroom rent rate of $2,800. However, this is actually a decline of 3.4% for the city over rent rates the year prior.

Despite September's slight cooling, annual national rent data confirms that one-bedroom units are up 1.5% compared to last year. Even worse, rents for one- and two-bedroom apartment units are still $300 to $400 more expensive than they were in 2020. Further, while some cities might have moved up or down a single rank, it's important to note that the top 10 most expensive cities for rent in the U.S. have remained largely unchanged (with the other five on the list being California cities San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego, along with Arlington, Virginia, and Washington D.C.).

While prices within the rental market have slowed, they haven't stopped increasing. This places additional financial strain on renters who are combating inflation in more areas than just housing. According to Zillow data, rents across the U.S. have increased by an astounding 33.6% since the beginning of the pandemic with some of the country's smaller metro areas facing especially fast growing rent increases. Per Zillow's market report for August 2024, rent increases were highest in Hartford, Connecticut (7.8%); Cleveland, Ohio (7%); Louisville, Kentucky (6.9%); Richmond, Virginia (6.9%); and Providence, Rhode Island (6.2%).

These areas are largely experiencing these rapid rent increases due to the influx of people moving away from more expensive cities, as well as low-vacancy rates and housing shortages, which create more demand and competition for units. As of August 2024, median U.S. households are spending 29.9% of their total monthly income on rent (which is right on the border of how much of your income you should spend on rent).