Affordable apartments under $1,000 scarce but still exist in 13 metros

Rental prices continue to rise in some markets. However, affordable options still exist in certain parts of the country, with some units priced under $1,000, according to a recent report from Zillow.

In Zillow’s latest analysis, published Thursday, apartments worth less than $1,000 a month are easy to find, though rare, in parts of the South and Midwest. Thirteen metros have more than a third of apartments renting for less than $1,000 a month.

However, that’s out of 100 metro areas, which equates to about 13% of the metro areas Zillow tracks in the report.

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It’s a bright spot for homeowners who have been marginalized from the market due to persistent affordability issues. Although housing price growth has slowed since surging during the early days of the pandemic, mortgage costs are still more than double what they were in 2019. Rent for a typical apartment has also risen by about 40% over the same period, underscoring the pressures faced by both renters and homeowners.

Renters today would need to set aside 5% of their income for about nine years just to afford a 10% down payment on a typical home, up from 7.4% since 2019.

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“It’s no secret that rents and home prices have risen faster than income. For many renters, this makes saving for a down payment out of reach,” Kara Ng, chief economist at Zillow, said in a statement. Ng explained that moving to an affordable area can boost someone’s financial health in the long term, and help them save for a future home.

A typical residential street in McAllen, Texas. (Getty Images/Getty Images)

Wichita, Kansas, had the highest share of apartment listings with a monthly rent of less than $1,000. About 54% of apartments in the area are priced under $1,000. McAllen, Texas, came in second with just over 50% of apartments for sale for less than $1,000 per month.

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Drone shot in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Getty Images/Getty Images)

Here are the top five metro areas with the most apartments priced under $1,000 per month:

1. Wichita, Kansas: 54%

2. McAllen, Texas: Just over 50%

3. Little Rock, Arkansas: 49%

4. Toledo, Ohio: 46%

5. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: 42%

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In comparison, these low-cost options are far and few between in areas like Boston, Miami, Washington, D.C., North Port, Florida, Charleston, South Carolina, and Cape Coral, Florida.

All of the above metros have less than 1.8% of listings that rent for less than $1,000, according to a Zillow report.