The lowest rents in the U.S. can be found in some of the largest cities in the Midwest, a new study found.
“The Midwest tends to be more affordable because the cost of living is lower in these areas. Cities in the Midwest are just in general less expensive,” said Brian Carberry, the author of the Apartment Guide report, which examined apartment complexes with more than 50 units listed on its site and Rent.com.
In neighborhoods that made the list, the cost of living is fairly low. A dollar can be stretched pretty far in Columbus, Ohio, where the cost of living is 10% more affordable than the U.S. average, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research. Columbus is home to the ZIP code (43227) with the least expensive rent, with one-bedrooms going for $489 a month, according to Apartment Guide.
“There are a handful of large cities [like Columbus, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Tucson, and Houston] where you can still find affordable rent,” Carberry said, noting that neighborhoods in some of the most notoriously expensive areas of the country, like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C., did not make the list of top 100 ZIP codes, which Apartment Guide shared exclusively with Yahoo Finance.
ZIP codes in Columbus and Oklahoma City stood out as surprisingly affordable locations given the cities’ size, said Carberry. In fact urban areas, not rural areas, dominated the top 100 list. ZIP codes in Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Little Rock, Memphis, Omaha and Tulsa, each ranked on the top 100 list three times. Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Fort Worth each had two ZIP codes on the list.
Although the cheapest one-bedroom rentals are located in ZIP codes clustered in the Midwest, a third of the top 100 ZIP codes with cheapest average rents in the country were in Arkansas, Texas, and Indiana. The Catalina Foothills of Tuscon, Arizona is the city with the most ZIP codes on the least expensive rent list with five: 85712, 85715, 85711, 85741, and 85710. And eight of the top 100 low-rent ZIP codes are on the coast of North Carolina, including Charlotte (28212), Clemmons (27012), Fayetteville (28311), Greensboro (27409), Raleigh (27610), and Winston-Salem (27106).
Low-rent ZIP codes on the East Coast include Newport News, Va. (23602), Baltimore, Md. (21206), Jacksonville, Fla. (32211), Mobile, Ala. (36695), Augusta, Ga. (30909) and Columbus, Ga. (31907).
TOP 100 LEAST EXPENSIVE ZIP CODES
Rank | State | City | Zip Code | Average 1-BR Rent 2019 |
1 | OH | Columbus | 43227 | $489.00 |
2 | AR | Rogers | 72756 | $510.00 |
3 | TX | Greenville | 75401 | $510.00 |
4 | OK | Oklahoma City | 73114 | $530.00 |
5 | IL | Champaign | 61821 | $532.50 |
6 | LA | Shreveport | 71129 | $547.00 |
7 | AR | Conway | 72034 | $555.00 |
8 | TX | Amarillo | 79106 | $597.50 |
9 | KS | Derby | 67037 | $599.00 |
10 | OH | Youngstown | 44512 | $600.00 |
11 | NM | Albuquerque | 87123 | $600.40 |
12 | NC | Winston-Salem | 27106 | $608.00 |
13 | AR | Little Rock | 72210 | $610.00 |
14 | AR | Marion | 72364 | $615.00 |
15 | AR | Sherwood | 72120 | $615.00 |
16 | IA | Davenport | 52807 | $620.40 |
17 | OK | Tulsa | 74107 | $620.50 |
18 | NC | Fayetteville | 28306 | $624.50 |
19 | NM | Albuquerque | 87109 | $634.80 |
20 | TN | Memphis | 38115 | $635.20 |
21 | IN | Clarksville | 47129 | $641.50 |
22 | IL | Urbana | 61801 | $645.00 |
23 | AR | Benton | 72019 | $651.00 |
24 | OH | Parma | 44129 | $653.70 |
25 | AR | Little Rock | 72205 | $655.00 |
26 | GA | Columbus | 31907 | $655.50 |
27 | IN | Lawrence | 46226 | $657.40 |
28 | TN | Memphis | 38111 | $662.50 |
29 | ND | Grand Forks | 58201 | $667.00 |
30 | OK | Tulsa | 74145 | $671.40 |
31 | IA | Des Moines | 50315 | $672.60 |
32 | NC | Greensboro | 27409 | $672.80 |
33 | IN | Indianapolis | 46254 | $677.80 |
34 | LA | Harvey | 70058 | $678.00 |
35 | AZ | Tucson | 85712 | $678.50 |
36 | TN | Memphis | 38134 | $685.50 |
37 | TX | Houston | 77034 | $689.10 |
38 | IN | Indianapolis | 46227 | $697.90 |
39 | NC | Clemmons | 27012 | $698.00 |
40 | AR | North Little Rock | 72113 | $700.00 |
41 | KS | Wichita | 67212 | $704.00 |
42 | AR | Bentonville | 72712 | $705.00 |
43 | MO | Kansas City | 64138 | $705.20 |
44 | AR | Fayetteville | 72704 | $707.00 |
45 | IN | Indianapolis | 46229 | $708.30 |
46 | AZ | Tucson | 85715 | $712.50 |
47 | OK | Norman | 73071 | $715.00 |
48 | TX | El Paso | 79930 | $715.00 |
49 | MN | Moorhead | 56560 | $719.80 |
50 | LA | Baton Rouge | 70816 | $720.40 |
51 | AR | Little Rock | 72202 | $724.00 |
52 | VA | Newport News | 23602 | $724.10 |
53 | LA | Lafayette | 70506 | $724.90 |
54 | OH | Bedford Heights | 44146 | $727.50 |
55 | MO | Kansas City | 64131 | $729.00 |
56 | TX | Houston | 77099 | $730.50 |
57 | NE | Omaha | 68114 | $731.00 |
58 | TX | Waco | 76706 | $741.70 |
59 | IN | Greenwood | 46142 | $741.80 |
60 | OK | Tulsa | 74136 | $742.10 |
61 | NC | Fayetteville | 28311 | $745.80 |
62 | IN | Greenfield | 46140 | $749.60 |
63 | OH | Hamilton | 45013 | $751.50 |
64 | TX | Fort Worth | 76133 | $752.50 |
65 | MI | Grand Blanc | 48439 | $756.40 |
66 | FL | Jacksonville | 32211 | $760.00 |
67 | NE | Omaha | 68154 | $760.40 |
68 | OK | Oklahoma City | 73142 | $767.80 |
69 | TX | Webster | 77598 | $768.90 |
70 | AL | Mobile | 36695 | $771.60 |
71 | TN | Chattanooga | 37404 | $775.00 |
72 | AZ | Tucson | 85711 | $775.60 |
73 | OH | Fairborn | 45324 | $779.60 |
74 | AZ | Tucson | 85741 | $782.00 |
75 | TX | Houston | 77095 | $782.60 |
76 | IN | Elkhart | 46514 | $782.90 |
77 | WI | Hales Corners | 53130 | $785.00 |
78 | WI | Kenosha | 53144 | $787.50 |
79 | NC | Charlotte | 28212 | $788.40 |
80 | ND | Fargo | 58104 | $793.00 |
81 | OK | Broken Arrow | 74012 | $794.60 |
82 | NC | Fayetteville | 28304 | $794.60 |
83 | IN | Elkhart | 46516 | $795.00 |
84 | WY | Gillette | 82716 | $799.00 |
85 | NV | Las Vegas | 89169 | $801.10 |
86 | MD | Baltimore | 21206 | $801.70 |
87 | ND | West Fargo | 58078 | $805.00 |
88 | TX | Baytown | 77520 | $807.60 |
89 | AZ | Tucson | 85710 | $808.10 |
90 | KS | Overland Park | 66212 | $810.40 |
91 | NC | Raleigh | 27610 | $815.00 |
92 | NE | Omaha | 68144 | $815.20 |
93 | MS | Biloxi | 39532 | $815.30 |
94 | NV | Las Vegas | 89115 | $819.30 |
95 | IA | Ames | 50014 | $822.80 |
96 | MS | Hattiesburg | 39402 | $829.20 |
97 | TX | Fort Worth | 76112 | $830.90 |
98 | GA | Augusta | 30909 | $832.10 |
99 | MO | Kansas City | 64114 | $837.70 |
100 | NE | Elkhorn | 68022 | $841.30 |
Source: Apartment Guide
Sarah Paynter is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @sarahapaynter
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