--- title: 15 Cities Where Many Renters Pay Under $1,000 a Month description: In the country's 50 largest metropolitan areas, 32.1% of renters paid less than $1,000 per month in 2023, according to a new analysis. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently covers news stories about housing topics including home buying, mortgage rates and homeowners insurance. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 597 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2024-11-04T13:12:00.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News word_count: 437 canonical: https://money.com/cities-where-renters-pay-under-1000/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Cleveland, Ohio from the south shows the iconic skyline under a blue sky](https://img.money.com/2024/10/News-Cities-Renter-Pay-Under-Thousand.jpg) *Cleveland, OH* Finding an apartment in a major U.S. city for less than $1,000 per month has become more difficult lately, but in some metros, such as Oklahoma City and Pittsburgh, three-digit rent is still the norm. In the country's 50 largest metropolitan areas, 32.1% of renters paid less than $1,000 per month in 2023, according to a [report](https://www.redfin.com/news/apartments-for-rent-under-1000/) released last week by real estate company Redfin. (The analysis relies on Census data and counts apartments in buildings with at least five units.) That share is down from about 50% in 2012. “Rising rents have made it increasingly difficult for people to find housing in America,” Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist at Redfin, said in the report. Asking rents have increased 20% from pre-pandemic levels, with the median asking rent up to $1,634, according to Redfin. The lack of cheap apartments is creating challenges for lower-income residents: Folks on tight budgets are coping with high rents by living with more roommates or compromising for other less-than-ideal living situations (think longer commutes and less square footage.) The good news? There are still many places that offer the mid-to-large size city lifestyle without the sky-high rents you'd see in San Diego or Miami. ## The lowest-cost cities for renters Here are the 15 cities with the highest share of rents under $1,000: 1. **Oklahoma City, Oklahoma**: 64.3% 2. **New Orleans, Louisiana**: 63.5% 3. **Cleveland, Ohio**: 63.4% 4. **Louisville, Kentucky**: 57.6% 5. **Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania**: 55.8% 6. **Buffalo, New York**: 55.2% 7. **Cincinnati, Ohio**: 54.9% 8. **St. Louis, Missouri**: 53.9% 9. **Memphis, Tennessee**: 53.5% 10. **Milwaukee, Wisconsin**: 49.5% 11. **Detroit, Michigan**: 49.3% 12. **Providence, Rhode Island**: 47% 13. **Indianapolis, Indiana**: 46.7% 14. **Birmingham, Alabama**: 44% 15. **Kansas City, Missouri**: 43% ## Cheap apartment listings are disappearing The availability of sub-$1,000 rent deals is shrinking in some of America's more affordable cities. The median rent in Cleveland, for example, was up 11.1% in a year as of last month, according to the report, which also mentions Cincinnati and Louisville as similar examples. These are cities people have flocked to recent years precisely because they're more affordable. Two-fifths of the renters in these large metros who pay less than $1,000 monthly have lived in their current spot for at least five years, and you can't necessarily find those deals any more in the rental market. Redfin's analysis found that only 7.5% of apartment listings have asking rents under $1,000. "Renters paying under $1,000 often stay put because moving would mean paying more,” the Redfin researchers wrote in the report. ## If you want to become a homeowner but years of renting have drained your savings, there's a great option for you. ### Work with a licensed Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) representative today. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/u24af772e122?ap_referrer=%2Fcities-where-renters-pay-under-1000%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/26681/medium_57f09f10-efb8-487d-a73e-5f7d605144eb.png) Imagine finally owning your dream home — Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) can help! 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