Here’s what $1,500 in rent can get you in Philly, Miami, Boston, and other cities across the country
In some U.S. markets, renters can get four-bedroom apartments for $1,500 a month. In other cities, that isn't even enough to pay for a studio apartment, according to a national RentCafe study.
Apartment renters with $1,500 a month to spend can get the equivalent of one or two bedrooms in Pittsburgh, a studio in Philadelphia, or a dorm room in Manhattan.
That’s according to an analysis by RentCafe, a national apartment search website, based on average price per square foot for apartments in properties with 50 or more units.
A monthly rent of $1,500 can get tenants 750 square feet in Pittsburgh, 591 square feet in Philadelphia, and 210 square feet in Manhattan. The national average for this price is 703 square feet — 112 square feet more than in Philadelphia.
In most cities, $1,500 pays for a bit less space this year than last year. Philadelphia renters lost 6 square feet, and Pittsburgh renters lost 18.
Whether a renter paying the same amount gets a spacious home or cramped quarters can depend on the type of rental property, but it mostly depends on the location. Varying costs of living, amounts of available space, and levels of apartment demand and construction all factor into home prices and sizes.
RentCafe’s report, published this month, looks at the 200 largest U.S. cities by population and determines how much apartment space $1,500 in rent pays for in various cities. To calculate the rough number of possible bedrooms, RentCafe looked at each city’s average square footage by bedroom count.
In Philadelphia, $1,500 would not even cover a one-bedroom home in an apartment building.
In places such as Manhattan and Boston, $1,500 a month won’t even pay for a typical studio apartment. That’s the case in 26 cities. Fifteen of them are in high-cost California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, where $1,500 would get renters 429 square feet and 307 square feet, respectively.
» READ MORE: See what $1,700 in rent can get you across Philly (From 2024)
In 97 of the 200 cities RentCafe analyzed, $1,500 a month could pay for apartments with one to two bedrooms. Renters could get a two- to three-bedroom unit in 31 cities, mostly in mid-sized urban centers.
Rent money goes furthest in cities with relatively low costs in the South and Midwest. In McAllen, Texas, a renter with $1,500 a month to spend can get a 1,378-square-foot apartment, enough space for three or four bedrooms. In this city, apartment rents average just under $1,000.
