While construction in Jersey City has continued at a breakneck pace, data sourced from apartment listings throughout the country suggests the new housing isn’t making New Jersey’s second-largest city more affordable.
Howmuch.net, a company that provides financial cost guides and related services, recently released a study that breaks down the priciest and cheapest places to rent an apartment in America. The report broke down the average rate of a two-bedroom apartment and based the prices on Apartment Guide and Rent.com’s multi-family rental property inventory.
The average rent in Jersey City clocked in at $3,821/month according to the data, one slot below #4 San Francisco’s $4,084 average monthly rate. The top three priciest cities to rent a two-bedroom apartment were New York City ($4,927/month), Boston ($4,728/month), and Los Angeles ($4,514/month).
The remainder of the top ten was a bit more diverse as California’s Oakland ($3,305/month) and San Diego ($3,232/month) clocked in at sixth and seventh, respectively. Eighth-ranked Chicago’s average rent totaled $3,065/month, while #9 San Jose’s $3,034 monthly average was just ahead of Scottsdale, Arizona’s $3,020/month, which rounded out the highest slots.
The cheapest rent in the country can apparently be found in Wichita, Kansas. A two-bedroom apartment in that city sets renters back just $763/month, or about 15% of New York City’s monthly total. Over the course of an entire year, that represents a total cost difference of over $49,000.
Jersey City’s population density seems to make an impact on high rents. At 17,720 residents per square mile, Jersey City is on par with San Francisco’s 18,808 residents per square mile and ahead of Boston’s 14,345 people per square mile density. New York City, home to the nation’s highest rents, has 27,547 residents per square mile.
The study is the latest indicator that COVID-19’s reshuffling appears to have spared the housing market in most major U.S. cities. A 2020 report from RenoFi noted that while home sale prices in San Francisco and Detroit declined, every other major city saw at least a slight increase. Notable jumps occurred in markets like San Jose (up 6.75%), Phoenix (a 6.25% increase), and Memphis (up 6.09%).
