Last modified on December 4th, 2018
By Elizabeth Millar

Rents are rising nationwide: While the average year-over-year rent growth is 1.4 percent, some cities are seeing rent hikes of 10 percent a year. Here are the cities where renters are feeling the pain of rising prices.

San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA

Renters looking to live in the Bay Area must shell out $2,682 if they want a one-bedroom apartment. The sky-high prices are due to supply shortage and an increase of Silicon Valley tech workers who want to play in the city by the bay – at any cost.

New York, NY

Manhattan rental prices are actually down this year by 0.7 percent, but renters wouldn’t know it from the median one bedroom rent, which ranks at the fourth most expensive in the nation, at $2,604.

Boston, MA

Boston comes in second on the East Coast, with average one-bedroom prices at $2,296 – a drop of 1 percent. The midsize city has a supply and demand problem, intensified as professionals are ditching the single-family home in the suburbs and scooping up luxury condos in Boston and Cambridge as fast as they come to market.

Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles has become the sixth priciest city for renters, with the average one-bedroom rent at $2,136. The city is beset with a homeless crisis, and Los Angeles County is considering a temporary rent cap to stabilize the market.

Washington, D.C.

This year, rent prices in D.C. have dropped by more than 10 percent, yet the market remains the seventh most expensive for renters, with a one-bedroom going for $1,762. The D.C. market isn’t any better for homeowners, with average home prices well over $500,000. High prices, the high cost of living, and short supply keep D.C. renters squeezed.