Once upon a time, space-hungry Manhattan dwellers fled to the outer boroughs or crossed the Hudson River to New Jersey to find more space for less money. Those pioneers found great living spaces for less money with easy access to the city. While those days of big bargains are long gone, the myth that Jersey City has bigger spaces and cheaper rents still persists. However, a new study reveals the truth.
The latest rentcafé.com survey calculates how much space $1,500 gets you nationwide. They ranked the 200 largest cities in the country using data from Yardi Matrix and the results still have Manhattan dead last. The national average is 715 square feet for $1,500, but you only get 216 square feet for $1,500 in Manhattan and your typical rent is $5,171 for a cramped 744 square feet.
The real headline is how much apartment you get for your money in once-affordable Jersey City. Despite adding almost as many apartments in 2024 as Manhattan and a recent study citing data that claims rents are falling, Jersey City ranks 5th in the nation among 100 large cities for the least apartment space available for your hard-earned money. $1,500 will get you 331 square feet with a typical rent of $3,692 and an average apartment size of 815 square feet.
If space is a priority, the most affordable large cities can be found in the South and Midwest. Wichita, Kansas, offers the largest apartments among cities with more than 225,000 residents. That same $1,500 will snag you 1,329 square feet. The South wins again in smaller cities, with towns in Georgia and Texas leading the way. Among cities with fewer than 225,000 people, McAllen, Texas, offers the most space in the country. You can live large in 1,393 square feet for $1,500.
Before you pack your bags for the South or the Midwest in search of space, there are a couple of Northern New Jersey cities worth investigating. Newark is undergoing a renaissance and your $1,500 will rent you 642 square feet, almost twice as much as Jersey City. Another city seeing a lot of revitalization is Paterson. $1,500 goes a little further with 649 square feet.
To check out the full results and methodology, visit rentcafe.com.
