Most Expensive Cities for Renters
Tracked metros ranked by 1BR rent, highest first.
Data: 2026-Q2 · BLS · HUD · KFF San Jose · CA
2 1BR rent $2,982/mo
San Francisco · CA
3 1BR rent $2,977/mo
New York City · NY
1BR rent $2,655/mo
Rankings derived from BLS OEWS May 2025, HUD FY2026 FMR, and Walk Score data.
FAQ
Most Expensive Cities for Renters — FAQ
How are these rankings calculated?
Most Expensive Cities for Renters is ranked by 1br rent, computed at build time directly from verified public data. Rankings derived from BLS OEWS May 2025, HUD FY2026 FMR, and Walk Score data. Only the top 3 are shown here.
Why does this only show 3 cities?
Top Rankings highlights the top 3 in each category. The underlying ranking is computed the same way for every tracked location; this page focuses on the leaders.