Southern U.S. states are best for renters, study finds

According to a new study, small and medium-sized cities in Texas and the Carolinas offer apartment tenants the best price.

Round Rock, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina, topped the list of best cities for renters, the RentCafe Apartments website said. Other cities in Texas and Carolina, such as Conroe, Texas; Greenville, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas are among the top 10 places.

These cities offer the ideal combination of a strong local economy, affordable rental prices, spacious apartments and a high quality of life, said RentCafe, which also took into account the cost of living in an area, the quality of the public schools, daily commute time, average income and others. factors.

“What they all have in common is a healthy pace of new apartment construction and a large selection of service-rich properties,” the firm said in its report.

• Florida is the least affordable place to live in the United States

The ranking comes as rents continue to rise in the US The price of a one- and two-bedroom apartment rose nearly 26 percent nationwide between May 2021 and May 2022, according to Rent.com. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Long Beach, California; in Jersey City, New Jersey; they have seen some of the most pronounced increases.

Rental costs have risen mainly because demand for apartments exceeds the number of available units, economists say.

“The number of single-family rental properties listed in early 2022 was well below pre-pandemic levels and has been declining for a year now,” CoreLogic chief economist Molly Boesel said in early this month.

The cities of Florida Orlando and Tampa were also on the RentCafe list. Rent increases in both cities have helped Florida is the least affordable state to live in the US Renting in Tampa now consumes 45% of the typical household annual income and 37% in Orlando.

The need for affordable housing has become even more crucial this year as U.S. households face rising inflation, which is driving up the price of gas, food and other basic necessities. . Nearly 30% of American adults in a recent Bankrate survey said they were willing to leave the state if they found more affordable housing.