Most Affordable Rental Markets in the Nation

According to new research, Pittsburgh is the best market for rental affordability, but by region, the Midwest is king with the most cities in a new top 10 ranking.

The median share of household income spent on rent in Pittsburgh is 21.9 percent, with a median monthly payment currently standing at $1,083, per Zillow's Rent Index. St. Louis is the highest-ranking Midwestern city, with 22.2 percent of household income going toward rent, and median rents at $1,150 per month. By contrast, Los Angeleno renters were found to have the least affordable circumstances based on the data, spending nearly 48 percent of household income on rent, and median monthly rent payments at $2,759.

Affordability is a relative concept in housing. Markets that seem affordable because their median rent is on the low side may actually be unaffordable to people who live there. For that reason, we measure affordability by the share of median household income that residents pay for an area’s median rent. For reference, a renter earning the U.S. median household income and living in the typical U.S. home should expect to pay 28.8 percent of their income on rent.

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