California is the state with the most expensive rentals
The most expensive place to rent is San Francisco, California. To rent an apartment here, a resident must receive at least $68.33 per hour, which is three times higher than the national average ($24.9).
San Jose is second ($58.67) and Santa Cruz is third ($58.10). Both cities are also in California. Other California cities in the top 10 include Oakland, Santa Maria (along with Santa Barbara), Santa Ana and San Diego. Rounding out the top 10 is the state’s largest city, Los Angeles. The only two cities in the top 10 most expensive for renters that are not in California are Boston, Massachusetts ($44.92) and Honolulu, Hawaii ($39.87).
The average California resident who wants to rent a two-bedroom apartment must earn $39.03 per hour. This state has always been considered one of the most expensive to live in, but over the past year, the cost of renting in San Francisco has dropped 30%. The reason for the decline in rental prices is due to the outflow of population – during the pandemic, many people switched to telecommuting and began to move to states with more loyal prices. In addition, glorified IT giants, previously based in Silicon Valley, began to move to Texas.
The top five
In second place after the Golden State was Hawaii. Locals must earn $37.69 to rent a home. But while Californians can afford rent because they earn a good income, wages in Hawaii are not as high. The average wage in Hawaii is $17.56, which is almost half of what you need to rent a home.
Rounding out the top three is Massachusetts, where you need to make $36.24 an hour to rent a decent apartment. Boston agglomeration – one of the largest educational, cultural and commercial centers in the U.S. attracts highly qualified professionals around the world, which to some extent affects the high cost of housing.
Fourth place went to New York City, where the hourly wage should be at least 37.5 dollars. Rounding out the top five was Washington, D.C., where a resident should earn $33.94 per hour to rent a home. 58% of D.C. residents rent a home. California has 45% renters, Texas and Massachusetts have 38% renters, and in Maryland and Kentucky, one in three renters rent an apartment. The least number of renters in West Virginia – only 27% rent here.
The cheapest states
The cheapest rentals are in West Virginia, Arkansas and Mississippi. It’s even cheaper to rent in Puerto Rico, which, while not a state, has the status of an unincorporated organized territory of the United States. To rent a two-bedroom apartment in Puerto Rico, you only need to earn $9.72 an hour.
