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How much can you rent for $1,500 in Indy?

Posted at 10:35 AM, Jul 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-25 11:50:13-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- Everybody knows it's expensive to rent in Boston or New York, but exactly how much cheaper is Indianapolis? The answer apparently is -- quite a bit cheaper.

RentCafe.com, a website about the nationwide rental market, did a calculation with how much space a renter can buy for $1,500 in the 30 most populous cities in the United States.

Of the top 30 cities, Indianapolis ranks third in how much space you can rent for $1,500, at 1,724 square feet.

The No. 1 and No. 2 cities are Memphis, Tenn., and Oklahoma City, respectively.

The cities with the least value for your money are, from No. 30 to No. 26:

  • New York 
  • San Francisco
  • Boston
  • San Jose, Calif.
  • Washington

In New York, a renter could get 271 square feet, which is about 1/6 the space as what they could get in Indy.

RentCafe made the calculation by comparing average apartment size with average rent, to get average price per square inch.

Check the chart below, and on RentCafe.com, for the 30 cities' purchasing power.