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Rents in the USA: from the Priciest ZIP Codes to the Cheapest
by Wolf Richter, Wolf Street:
Rents in Chicago’s toniest ZIP codes are practically reasonable compared to the craziness elsewhere.
OK, this is mind-boggler of a juxtaposition: The most expensive ZIP code to rent an apartment in is 10282, which covers Battery Park City, stretching along the Hudson River at the southern tip of Manhattan, where the average rent has soared 12% over the past 12 months to $6,211. And the cheapest ZIP code to rent in is 67213, which is in Wichita, KS, where the average rent has remained flat over the past 12 months at $423.
These are the two ends of the spectrum in a report by RentCafe, based on data by Yardi Matrix, on rents in large apartment properties with at least 50 rental units. Rents at properties with fewer than 50 units are not included. Also not included are ZIP Codes with less than 200 rental units or less than three rental properties with 50+ units.
The Cheapest 50 ZIP codes.
The average rent in the 10 cheapest ZIP codes ranges from $423 to $429. There are 50 ZIP codes where the average rent is below $600, including 10 in Ohio, 9 in Kansas, and 8 in Tennessee.
My former hometown, Tulsa, has a couple of ZIP codes on that list (#41 and #42). Once upon a time, Tulsa was the booming “Oil Capital of the World” until all the oil companies moved to Houston during the oil bust in the 1980s, which triggered a long-lasting economic depression in the city. Oklahoma has a total of five entries on the list.
Some other ZIP codes on this list of the Cheapest 50 Rental ZIP Codes are in cities with similar fates – once booming towns until some major industries packed up and left, shriveled, or died (if your smart-device clips the right column, hold it in landscape position):
| ZIP Code | City | State | Average Rent | Change Y-o-Y | |
| 1 | 67213 | Wichita | KS | $423 | 0.0% |
| 2 | 38106 | Memphis | TN | $471 | 2.7% |
| 3 | 67211 | Wichita | KS | $472 | 1.7% |
| 4 | 67218 | Wichita | KS | $491 | 4.8% |
| 5 | 67204 | Wichita | KS | $500 | 2.2% |
| 6 | 35601 | Decatur | AL | $504 | 5.9% |
| 7 | 38114 | Memphis | TN | $516 | 4.3% |
| 8 | 38127 | Memphis | TN | $517 | 3.7% |
| 9 | 72067 | Jacksonville | AR | $520 | -0.4% |
| 10 | 48420 | Clio | MI | $529 | 1.9% |
| 11 | 37777 | Louisville | TN | $532 | 6.2% |
| 12 | 67501 | Hutchinson | KS | $535 | -1.9% |
| 13 | 35810 | Huntsville | AL | $539 | 6.0% |
| 14 | 67210 | Wichita | KS | $545 | 0.9% |
| 15 | 72301 | West Memphis | AR | $547 | 2.4% |
| 16 | 63137 | Saint Louis | MO | $548 | -1.6% |
| 17 | 43611 | Toledo | OH | $551 | -1.4% |
| 18 | 46809 | Fort Wayne | IN | $552 | 1.5% |
| 19 | 43612 | Toledo | OH | $557 | 2.4% |
| 20 | 43609 | Toledo | OH | $560 | 6.9% |
| 21 | 67217 | Wichita | KS | $561 | 4.9% |
| 22 | 44420 | Girard | OH | $562 | 3.9% |
| 23 | 46816 | Fort Wayne | IN | $564 | 3.0% |
| 24 | 67216 | Wichita | KS | $569 | 3.2% |
| 25 | 35611 | Athens | AL | $572 | 8.8% |
| 26 | 43613 | Toledo | OH | $575 | 2.5% |
| 28 | 35805 | Huntsville | AL | $576 | 7.8% |
| 27 | 43607 | Toledo | OH | $576 | 1.5% |
| 29 | 44505 | Youngstown | OH | $576 | 3.2% |
| 30 | 44406 | Canfield | OH | $578 | 1.0% |
| 31 | 72209 | Little Rock | AR | $579 | -0.3% |
| 33 | 67203 | Wichita | KS | $581 | 3.2% |
| 32 | 44485 | Warren | OH | $581 | 3.2% |
| 34 | 31903 | Columbus | GA | $582 | 11.1% |
| 35 | 38109 | Memphis | TN | $583 | 3.7% |
| 36 | 73109 | Oklahoma City | OK | $584 | 4.4% |
| 37 | 38116 | Memphis | TN | $584 | 3.6% |
| 38 | 48234 | Detroit | MI | $585 | 2.5% |
| 39 | 45406 | Dayton | OH | $587 | 2.1% |
| 40 | 37803 | Maryville | TN | $587 | 4.0% |
| 41 | 74116 | Tulsa | OK | $588 | 6.3% |
| 42 | 74129 | Tulsa | OK | $588 | 2.8% |
| 43 | 38118 | Memphis | TN | $589 | 5.9% |
| 44 | 31204 | Macon | GA | $592 | 1.4% |
| 45 | 46550 | Nappanee | IN | $593 | 5.8% |
| 47 | 85711 | Tucson | AZ | $594 | 4.7% |
| 46 | 48503 | Flint | MI | $594 | 2.3% |
| 50 | 49107 | Buchanan | MI | $597 | 0.7% |
| 48 | 73127 | Oklahoma City | OK | $597 | 2.2% |
| 49 | 74006 | Bartlesville | OK | $597 | -2.8% |
On the other hand, at the dizzying top…
Of the most expensive 50 ZIP codes in terms of average rent in apartment properties with 50+ units, 26 are in Manhattan (Manhattan has a total of 38 ZIP codes). Battery Park City (10282) is the most expensive rental ZIP code in the US with an average rent of $6,211. In the map (via Google) below, it’s the area to the left of the red line, bordered by the Hudson River, the World Trade Center, and Tribeca (10013), the second most expensive ZIP code in the US with an average rent of $5,327:
New York City has two ZIP codes at the bottom of the most-expensive-50 list that are not in Manhattan: one in Brooklyn and one in Queens.
Los Angeles, has four ZIP codes on this list, including 4th and 5th place overall: Top entry (90024) is Westwood, next to Beverly Hills, with an average rent of $4,944. LA’s second most expensive ZIP code (90048) includes part of West Hollywood and Beverly Grove, with an average rent of $4,896.
The San Francisco Bay Area has 14 ZIP codes on this list, four of them in the City of San Francisco, including the Bay Area’s top entry (94105), with an average rent of $4,858. This ZIP code – the 6th most expensive in the US – is in the South of Market Area of towers, including the infamous Millennium Tower, a high-end condo building that is sinking unevenly into Bay mud and is leaning disconcertingly. The ZIP code also includes the building of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
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