We’ve previously taken a look at the Cheapest States and Most Expensive States, and to no one’s surprise, California was the most expensive.
But that analysis was done based on the total cost of living for food, daycare, transportation, and, of course, housing.
So today we wanted to highlight what might the most important piece of data of all those listed above — housing — and, in particular, the states with the highest rent.
In one of the few analyzes we do that does not rely on Census data, our data for this particular excercise comes from ApartmentList which releases the most timely and accurate data available on rents across the country. We specifically looked the Rental Listings –> Overall –> State data set.
After we extracted the rental data and ranked them from highest lowest, California came in a distant second to New York.
Here’s a look at the ten states in America with the highest rent:
According to the most recent data from ApartmentList, Hawaii has the highest rent in America with a median rent of $2,203 a month.
The state with the lowest rent is South Dakota with median rents of $870 a month.
Rent is generally cheaper in the Midwestern states and the South compare to the coasts. More land and less demands means lower rent.
Read on for a more detailed methodology and data on each state or feel free to check out some of other research:
How We Calculated The States With The Highest And Lowest Rent For January 2024
We’ve been ranking states and cities for over four years now and we always start our quests for data in the same manner — as stroll through the American Community Survey.
But, as we mentioned above, we’ve made a rate exception to that rule as there is another source we trust and that has way more timely data — ApartmentList.
ApartmentList provides monthly data on rents across America by state, select counties, and select cities. The current data runs through January 2024 — there’s a bit of a lag in reporting.
That compares to the Census last release of data in December 2023 that only goes through 2022, so ApartmentList is way more up-to-date.
With all that in mind, we took the median rent for Rental Listings –> Median Rent Overall –> State from ApartmentList’s data.
We then ranked each state from the highest median rent to the lowest.
The state with the most expensive rent ended up being Hawaii.
The best deal? South Dakota and West Virginia.
Continue on for a look at the top ten or scroll to the bottom for a detailed, state-by-state table. We also broke down every state’s data into specific charts and graphs.
We updated this article for January 2024.
The 10 States With The Highest Median Rent In America
1. Hawaii
Population: 1,450,589
Median Rent: $2,203
Detailed breakdown of rents in Hawaii.
2. California
Population: 39,356,104
Median Rent: $2,112
Detailed breakdown of rents in California.
3. Massachusetts
Population: 6,984,205
Median Rent: $1,908
Detailed breakdown of rents in Massachusetts.
4. New Jersey
Population: 9,249,063
Median Rent: $1,880
Detailed breakdown of rents in New Jersey.
5. New York
Population: 19,994,379
Median Rent: $1,820
Detailed breakdown of rents in New York.
6. Maryland
Population: 6,161,707
Median Rent: $1,767
Detailed breakdown of rents in Maryland.
7. Washington
Population: 7,688,549
Median Rent: $1,700
Detailed breakdown of rents in Washington.
8. Virginia
Population: 8,624,511
Median Rent: $1,659
Detailed breakdown of rents in Virginia.
9. Colorado
Population: 5,770,790
Median Rent: $1,654
Detailed breakdown of rents in Colorado.
10. Connecticut
Population: 3,611,317
Median Rent: $1,577
Detailed breakdown of rents in Connecticut.
The 10 States With The Lowest Median Rent In America
1. South Dakota
Population: 890,342
Median Rent: $870
Detailed breakdown of rents in South Dakota.
2. West Virginia
Population: 1,792,967
Median Rent: $879
Detailed breakdown of rents in West Virginia.
3. Arkansas
Population: 3,018,669
Median Rent: $921
Detailed breakdown of rents in Arkansas.
4. Oklahoma
Population: 3,970,497
Median Rent: $981
Detailed breakdown of rents in Oklahoma.
5. Alabama
Population: 5,028,092
Median Rent: $984
Detailed breakdown of rents in Alabama.
6. Iowa
Population: 3,188,836
Median Rent: $986
Detailed breakdown of rents in Iowa.
7. Kentucky
Population: 4,502,935
Median Rent: $1,002
Detailed breakdown of rents in Kentucky.
8. Maine
Population: 1,366,949
Median Rent: $1,009
Detailed breakdown of rents in Maine.
9. Mississippi
Population: 2,958,846
Median Rent: $1,011
Detailed breakdown of rents in Mississippi.
10. Kansas
Population: 2,935,922
Median Rent: $1,038
Detailed breakdown of rents in Kansas.
So There Are Your States With The Highest Rents In America
With the median rent in America only $1,700, you can expect to pay almost twice that in California or New York.
The states with the highest rent in the United States are Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Washington, Virginia, Colorado, and Connecticut.
The states with the lowest rent in the United States are South Dakota, West Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, and Kansas.
If you’re thinking of trying to move to somewhere cheap, then stick to the heartland where you can expect to pay closer to $1,000.
For more reading, check out: