How much space you can get for a monthly rent payment of $1,500 depends entirely on where you live.
In Manhattan, New York, it’s an average of 216 square feet — roughly the size of a bedroom. But in Wichita, Kansas, the same amount will get you an average of 1,329 square feet — enough for a multi-room apartment or even a modest house, according to RentCafe.
The rankings are based on average rent and apartment size data for March 2025, from real estate data platform Yardi Matrix, which is operated by the same parent company as RentCafe. The ranking used U.S. Census Bureau estimates to define the 100 most populous cities in the contiguous U.S.
Here are the 10 markets where renters get the least space, on average, for $1,500 a month:
- Manhattan, New York: 216 square feet
- Brooklyn, New York: 297 square feet
- Boston: 311 square feet
- San Francisco: 325 square feet
- Jersey City, New Jersey: 331 square feet
- Queens, New York: 345 square feet
- Los Angeles, California: 426 square feet
- San Jose, California: 435 square feet
- Irvine, California: 436 square feet
- San Diego: 439 square feet
The most expensive rental markets tend to be large coastal cities where demand for housing far exceeds supply. Strict zoning laws, limited new construction and a longstanding shortage of affordable housing has led to smaller, costly apartments in places like New York and San Francisco.
In contrast, renters get far more space for their money in the Midwest and Southern U.S., where housing is more affordable and usable land is less scarce.
Here are the 10 cities where $1,500 stretches the furthest in terms of average amount of space:
- Wichita, Kansas: 1,329 square feet
- Toledo, Ohio: 1,268 square feet
- Oklahoma City: 1,247 square feet
- Tulsa, Oklahoma: 1,231 square feet
- Lubbock, Texas: 1,230 square feet
- Memphis, Tennessee: 1,229 square feet
- Fort Wayne, Indiana: 1,159 square feet
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana: 1,138 square feet
- El Paso, Texas: 1,137 square feet
- Corpus Christi, Texas: 1,104 square feet
Apartments are getting slightly larger
Fortunately for renters, apartments are getting slightly larger, according to an April report from RentCafe.
Studios averaged 457 square feet in 2024, up 13 square feet from the previous year. One-bedrooms rose to 735 square feet, and two-bedrooms hit 1,097 — modest increases that give renters a bit more space.
The increase is largely due to a wave of new apartment construction delivering larger units, says RentCafe.
Still, in the most expensive cities, $1,500 often isn’t enough to cover even a studio apartment as rents continue to rise. In New York City, for example, the average rent for a studio is $3,700 a month, according to RentHop.
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