Best Cities For Renters 2021

Ample living space, affordable rent and nice weather for a walk to the park could be your trifecta for finding the perfect apartment. The cities below come the closest to offering ideal renter conditions.

To find the best cities for renters, we scored the 100 largest U.S. cities using apartment data from Apartments.com, weather and disaster risk data from harbor, park information from The Trust for Public Land, and other data sources.

No. 1: Plano, Texas

Plano serves up relatively spacious apartments, and its affordability makes it an attractive spot to settle in. Plano doesn’t have the cheapest rent—in fact it ranks down at No. 73 out of 100 for low rent. But the city’s high median household income of over $95,000 means that Plano has a low ratio of rent to income (20% of median income would be spent on the average 2-bedroom apartment).

Plano is also a good bet if you’re looking for an apartment with a new or updated kitchen (one-third of rentals have stainless steel appliances) and a gym (90% have them). Notably, you generally won’t pay more for an apartment with a pool or gym in Plano, unlike other cities where such amenities can jack up the rent.

Rates for violent crimes and burglaries are low. As an added bonus, almost all rental units in Plano allow pets. Just be prepared for the Texas heat.

Plano’s score: 844 out of 1,000

No. 2: Omaha, Nebraska

You can find affordable, roomy apartments in Omaha, and perhaps even score a good view of the Missouri River. Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment would require only 22% of the city’s median household income of about $60,000.

Omaha renters have good access to parks and generally decent weather. But don’t expect to find an apartment building with a pool in Omaha, where less than 10% of rental units have a pool amenity. It will also be very hard to find an apartment with a new or updated kitchen.

Aside from seasonal weather issues like tornadoes and snowstorms, Omaha doesn’t generally experience destructive natural disasters.

Omaha’s rate of violent crime is at about the middle of the pack of the largest 100 cities but has a lower burglary rate. Its rate of motor vehicle theft is the highest among our Top 10 cities.

The city is in the process of revitalizing its riverfront, with plans for a large green area for activities and entertainment, including a performance pavilion and interactive water features.

Omaha’s score: 842 out of 1,000

No. 3: Raleigh, North Carolina

With a good spurt of new rentals built since 2017 (an increase of over 11%), Raleigh is a great place to find an apartment filled with amenities and at a good rental price. Apartments come with ample space, on average, and many have pools (42%) and/or gyms (75%).

While you’ll have to battle some hurricanes, you likely won’t have to battle crime: Raleigh has very low rates of violent crime and burglaries.

Raleigh’s median household income of $67,266 can make rent affordable. Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment would consume about 23% of median household income.

Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina and also part of the “Research Triangle” with Chapel Hill and Durham, thanks to many diverse businesses and the three major research universities in the area: Duke University, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Raleigh’s score: 828 out of 1,000

No. 4: Lincoln, Nebraska

When you want to get out of your apartment for some fresh air, Lincoln is a good place to do so: 92% residents are within a 10-minute walk to a park. That makes it the best city for park accessibility in our Top 10 best cities for renters.

If you’re staying in and watching it snow, you can warm up inside a roomy apartment that you’re probably getting for a great price: Lincoln has the lowest average rent among our Top 10 best cities for renters and good average apartment square footage.

But it’s not a great place for renters to have pets—only about 64% of rentals allow pets, which is the lowest average on our Top 10 list.

While the state’s award-winning tourism motto is “Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone,” you can escape monotony in Lincoln at the state fair in August and at the city’s museums, art galleries and symphony performances.

Lincoln is Nebraska’s capital and has a wide variety of business and commerce, spanning regional government offices, agriculture, insurance and more, including correctional facilities. Nonetheless, you’ll find very little violent crime and few burglaries in Lincoln.

Lincoln’s score: 821 out of 1,000

No. 5: Gilbert, Arizona

Gilbert has loads of advantages for renters, including ample apartment amenities, new and/or updated kitchens, and pet-friendly buildings. Notably, 94% of rentals have an in-unit washer and dryer—a major plus if you’re tired of hauling your laundry to a basement or a laundromat.

The bounty of apartment amenities is likely attributable to the rental building boom in Gilbert: There’s been a 33% increase in rental units built since 2017, and more are on the way. The average year built for rentals is 2005, which makes Gilbert the home of the newest apartments among our Top 10 list.

The city has plenty of shopping and dinings options.

While Gilbert falls at No. 72 out of 100 for low rent, you can easily make up for a higher rent because of the city’s high median household income of $96,857. Gilbert has the highest median household income outside of California among the largest 100 cities in the U.S., outranked only by Fremont, San Francisco, San Jose and Irvine, California.

The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Gilbert will require only 19% of the median household income in the city, leaving you plenty of money to pay your air conditioning bill.

True to its city motto, “Gilbert: Clean, Safe, Vibrant,” Gilbert also has very low crime.

All of these perks may compensate for the lack of good park-related benefits: Only 31% of Gilbert residents live within a 10-minute walk to a park (the lowest among the 100 cities we analyzed) and only about 3% of the city is parkland. However, you can find 4.5 miles of trails at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch, an area used for water resource management that includes wildlife habitat preservation and an astronomy observatory.

Gilbert’s score: 820 out of 1,000

No. 6: Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta lets you go big: It has the largest average apartment sizes among the 100 large cities in the U.S. It should be easy to find an apartment building with a gym (75% have them) and a new or updated kitchen (34% have stainless steel appliances). You may also be able to snag an apartment with an in-unit washer and dryer (half have this perk).

When you need to escape the four walls of your apartment, you’re probably within a short walk to a park.

But with the second-lowest median household income ($59,948) among the cities in our Top 10 Best Cities for Renters list, you may have to stretch your budget to pay rent. The average two-bedroom rent will eat up 32% of the median household income in Atlanta.

Atlanta’s “City in the Forest” nickname comes from the canopy of foliage that dominates the city landscape. Within the leaves you’ll find theater, arts, culture, an aquarium, a zoo and much more.

Atlanta’s score: 809 out of 1,000

No. 7: Scottsdale, Arizona

Scottsdale is undergoing a rental building boom: New units under construction equal 13% of existing units—one of the highest levels among the largest 100 cities in the U.S. we analyzed.

Scottsdale’s affordability helped push it to the top of our rankings. With the city’s median household income of $88,213, you’d spend only 23% of the median household salary on a typical two-bedroom apartment. And you’ll get good space for your money: Scottsdale has large average apartment sizes.

You’re also likely to score a gym in your building (83% have them) and an in-unit washer and dryer (79% have them). If you have a furry companion, Scottsdale is also a good choice, as 94% of rental units allow pets.

In terms of weather, there’s the Arizona heat, of course. Floods and wildfires can also cause unexpected problems.

Only about 40% of Scottsdale’s residents are within a 10-minute walk to a park, if that’s important to you. Instead, you could visit Old Town Scottsdale, a pedestrian-friendly area of restaurants, shops and art galleries. Scottsdale also has bike and walking trails. When you’re tired of self-propulsion, hop onto a trolley on one of the four trolley routes.

Crime is about average for a city.

Scottsdale’s score: 806 out of 1,000

No. 8: Henderson, Nevada

You may know Henderson as a suburb of Las Vegas. Henderson has its own jackpot of good-sized apartments that have plenty of amenities. A median household income of $74,147 in the city means you’d spend 23% of your salary on rent for the average two-bedroom apartment.

You can probably find an apartment building with a pool to cool off in (51% have them), and you can easily find a rental with perks like a gym (91%) and in-unit washer and dryer (81%). About 31% of rentals have a new or updated kitchen.

Having a pet shouldn’t be an issue, as 91% of units allow pets. Also worth noting is that Henderson has a good number of dogs parks.

When you’re ready for some desert sun, Henderson has an extensive trail system for walking and biking.

Henderson is home to Lake Las Vegas, an artificial lake surrounded by luxury hotels and homes, an inflatable water park and a waterside public golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

Unlike other locations in our Top 10 best cities for renters list, you’ll need to be prepared for earthquakes in Henderson. This means having a disaster kit ready and taking precautions in your apartment such as bolting large furniture to walls and having fire extinguishers handy. Nevada has many active faults, and even faults that seem far away, such as those in Death Valley, can rumble Henderson.

Henderson’s score: 795 out of 1,000

No. 9: Virginia Beach, Virginia

While Virginia Beach’s two-bedroom apartments have the smallest average size among the cities in our Top 10, they’re still relatively roomy, coming in at No. 29 out of 100 cities for size. The location is also a bargain: You’d spend only 20% of your salary on rent for a two-bedroom if you earn the median household income of $76,610.

You can likely find good apartment amenities if you shop around a little. About one-third of units have a pool and two-thirds have gyms and in-unit washers and dryers. It will be harder to find a new or upgraded kitchen: Only about 13% offer stainless steel appliances.

Finding a home for a furry friend shouldn’t be a problem, as 91% of rentals in the city allow pets.

Virginia Beach’s location provides a variety of landscapes, from ocean views to wildlife preserves, and both urban and rural areas. You can hit the city’s beach or the boardwalk—or one of its many hiking trails—when you’re looking for some fresh air.

You’ll have to fight some weather battles in Virginia Beach, including hurricanes and floods. Last year saw a record hurricane season, and Virginia Beach is trying to tackle repeated flooding by widening its beaches in order to protect nearby properties.

Virginia Beach’s score: 788 out of 1,000

No. 10: Charlotte, North Carolina

You’ll find a lot of new apartments in Charlotte thanks to construction that has increased the number of rental units 22% since 2017. There are another 7,000+ units currently under construction.

Renting a two-bedroom unit in Charlotte will demand more of your salary than most other spots in our Top 10: You’ll spend about 26% of your salary on rent if you make the city’s median annual household income of $62,817. Still, that makes Charlotte’s affordability better than half of the 100 cities we analyzed.

You’ll get some decent apartment space, as Charlotte ranks at No. 9 out of 100 for average square footage for a two-bedroom rental.

And with the new construction comes a good shot at amenities that can make your apartment more enjoyable. Almost half of apartments have a pool, slightly over 80% have gyms and almost a third will have an updated or new kitchen with stainless steel appliances.

About 94% of rentals allow pets, so having a fur baby shouldn’t be a problem.

Only 6% of Charlotte is parkland, making it one of the lowest among our Top 10 cities for parkland.

A few years ago an opinion piece in The Charlotte Observer pondered the city’s motto, “Charlotte’s Got a Lot.” New mottos proposed included “Where America Comes to Build Apartments” and “Only Hours from Everything!” Still, the CharlottesGotALot.com website will help you find attractions, outdoor fun and nightlife.

Charlotte doesn’t really have weather worries aside from heat and tornadoes. It’s far enough inland that hurricanes generally aren’t a problem to consider—even though Hurricane Hugo in 1989 surprised everyone by coming inland and ravaging the city.

In fact, the city’s weather is so uneventful that one of the mottos proposed in the Charlotte Observer was “See Our TV Forecasters Go Apoplectic About Thunderstorms.”

Charlotte’s score: 784 out of 1,000

The Short List: Best Apartment Perks

How Much Do Apartment Amenities Add to Rent?

Having a pool and gym right where you live sounds great, but how much are you willing to pay for the convenience? Nationwide, a pool will add an average of 10% to rent. But in cities such as Plano, Texas, and Henderson, Nevada, a pool doesn’t add to the average one-bedroom rent, according to data from Apartments.com.

The worst city for paying extra for a pool? New York City, with a pool “premium” of 47%. Other cities with high additional rent for pools are Long Beach, California, Milwaukee and Chicago.

Having a gym in the building adds an average of 11% to rent. The highest gym premiums are in Honolulu (50% extra), Detroit (45% extra) and Long Beach, California (31% extra), according to Apartments.com.

Full List: Best Cities for Renters

Apartment Trends

A solid apartment-hunting plan includes a checklist of needs and wants, and unfortunately those might not always align. For example, you might want a kitchen with stainless steel appliances, but if you own a dog, you need to find a place that allows pets, which could significantly limit your search results. Or if you’re a remote employee who needs extra space for a home office, you need space for your work.

There’s a good chance you’ll be able to hit that sweet spot in the venn diagram where your needs and wants intersect with a good price. Keep an eye out for the apartment trends below.

It’s a Renters’ Market

“There are certainly many more apartment deals to be found than there has been in a long time, says David Pierce, senior business analyst at Apartments.com. “I would absolutely call it a renters’ market.”

In many cities, the pandemic coincided with a surge in development and construction, which has resulted in landlords dangling deals to attract renters to sign new leases. It’s not uncommon to find buildings that are offering discounts that exceed more than one month of free rent.

A good example is San Francisco, says Pierce. In the winter of 2019, about one in 50 buildings in the city were offering discounts that exceeded one month’s rent. Currently, about one in three buildings are offering similar discounts, and “33% is unheard of” before the pandemic, says Pierce.

He observes that the discounts have had an effect on monthly rent overall. When you have a high percentage of buildings offering discounts, you see a flatline of rents. “It’s hard to raise rents when the building next door is offering two months free on a 12-month lease,” says Pierce.

Remote Workers Want Bigger Spaces

The demand for larger apartments had an immediate spike at the onset of the pandemic, according to Pierce. Pre-pandemic, the search volume for 2-bed/2-bath units was around 35% of apartment searches. By April and May of 2020, that search volume increased to 40%. Three-bedroom units saw a similar uptick, while 1-bed/1-bath and 2-bed/1-bath units saw a relative downturn in searches.

Post-pandemic, the desire for bigger living spaces might stay high. While many American workers will return to their offices, a portion will see remote work become a permanent way of life. The post-Covid recovery period could see three to four times as many people working from home than before the pandemic, according to an analysis by McKinsey & Company.

Virtual Apartment Tours Are the New Normal

Interested in a new apartment but don’t want to have to meet people in-person? You might have the option to tour an apartment remotely. While virtual tours are not new, it’s become a safe alternative for apartment hunters to check out a potential rental while keeping their distance.

Several years ago, it was harder to find 3-D tours or “click-thru” tours, which allow users to virtually move room to room to check out the space. But the technology has come a long way and it’s much more common, says Pierce at Apartments.com.

“A lot of people have been introduced to virtual tours because of the circumstances,” says Pierce. But he notes that while virtual tours will be common post-pandemic, most renters will still want to see an apartment in-person and get a feel for the neighborhood.

How to Prepare for a Disaster

One of the most overlooked aspects of moving to a new city is its risk for natural disasters. Some disasters are obvious and well-covered by the media, like hurricanes slamming the Atlantic coast or wildfires on the West Coast. Some renters can forget to factor in the inconvenience and costs of disasters such as winter storms, heatwaves, earthquakes and flash floods, all which can have devastating effects.

“It’s very human nature to think that where we move can be similar to where we are from,” says Dan Kessler, CEO of harbor, a website and app that helps people with emergency planning and disaster preparedness. Kessler adds that some folks move to a new area and do very little research into what natural disasters might impact their lives.

Fortunately, disaster preparedness is a solvable problem. With an understanding of what types of natural disasters affect an area, you can do simple things that go a long way to ensuring your safety if disaster strikes. Kessler says that one of the biggest mistakes people make in their disaster preparedness (aside from doing nothing) is doing things they don’t need to be doing.

For example, Kessler says some folks might focus on getting mace for home break-ins but fail to check the batteries in their smoke detectors. Or people might stock four months worth of food for the freezer but not think about how a long power outage could spoil the food.

Kessler recommends starting by focusing on the basic stuff. These are core components that can prepare you for a wide variety of disasters:

• Non-perishable food
• Water
• First aid kit
• Batteries for essentials like smoke detectors and flashlights
• List of emergency contacts
• An evacuation route
• Insurance information

Locking in Renters Insurance

Renters insurance can easily drop to the bottom of a to-do list. But for a relatively small monthly cost you can lock in the best renters insurance that could save you financially after a disaster.

The average cost of renters insurance is $193 a year, according to Forbes Advisor’s data. It will provide coverage for your belongings if they’re damaged or destroyed in a fire, tornado, explosion or other problem covered by the policy.

Renters may not realize that a renters insurance policy also gives you liability coverage in case you’re sued—for example, if your dog bites someone. And a policy will reimburse you for additional living expenses while your apartment is uninhabitable due to damage.

Renters insurance for co-living situations provides all of the above, too.

Methodology

We scored the 100 largest U.S. cities based on the following measurements.

Apartment qualities: 35% of score

Having enough space in your apartment and good amenities can affect your general happiness. And with the trend toward working from home, having a roomy apartment becomes even more important.

We scored average square footage for one- and two-bedroom rentals and the percentage of units in a city that have a pool, gym, in-unit washer and dryer, and stainless steel kitchen appliances (an indicator of a new or updated kitchen). We also scored the percentage of units that allow pets.

Source: Apartments.com, a leading apartment-listing website that connects renters to more than 1 million available units across the country. Apartments.com’s research team collects and verifies information such as availability, monthly rents, pet policies, apartment amenities and more. Apartments.com also provided data on new construction of rental units.

Apartment affordability: 35% of score

We evaluated apartment affordability by scoring each city’s median household income, average rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments, and the percent of median salary that would be spent on a two-bedroom rental.

Sources:
Average rent: Apartments.com
Median household income: U.S. Census Bureau

Weather and natural disasters: 10% of score

A great apartment is less enjoyable if you have to frequently deal with severe weather or escape from disasters such as hurricanes or wildfires. We scored each city based on the risk of heatwaves, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, snow storms, tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanoes.

Source: harbor, a platform that allows users to assess their specific risks based on location, household details and more, and delivers actionable and customized plans that walk them through step-by-step tasks to increase everyday readiness. Harbor’s mission is to help people, families and communities form everyday habits so they can be more ready and resilient for all of life’s emergencies: from climate change to kitchen fires. Download the app or visit harbor’s website to get a personalized risk score.

Getting outside: 10% of score

Opportunities to enjoy fresh air are important when you don’t have a yard. We scored the percent of a city’s population within a 10-minute walk to a park and the percent of each city devoted to parkland.

Source: The Trust for Public Land, a conservation organization that believes in “the power of land for people.” The Trust for Public Land works to protect public ownership of land; create parks, playgrounds and gardens; develop trails for public use; put parks within walking distance; and help communities generate public funds for parks and conservation.

Crime: 10% of score

Our scoring included the rates of violent crime and burglary in every city.

Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 2019 crime data. We used 2018 data when 2019 wasn’t available.