These Cities Had the Biggest Rent Increase Over the Last Year

Cities where rent has increased the most
Lombard Street in San Francisco. | Shutterstock
Lombard Street in San Francisco. | Shutterstock

There are few things more frustrating than that phone call you get when your lease is up. It's your landlord, letting you know rent is about to go up. 

It happens to people everywhere, but rent doesn't go up at the same rate everywhere. Go Banking Rates has collected year-over-year data on the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in cities across the United States. It used the data from real estate marketplace Zillow to determine where rents have risen the most and where they have fallen the most over the last calendar year (May 2016 to May 2017).

cities where rent increased the most
Go Banking Rates

Here are the cities where median rents have risen the most.

1. Marina del Rey, California (+$441.50)
2. Medford, Massachusetts (+$405)
3. Jersey City, New Jersey (+$285)
4. Columbia, Maryland (+$277)
5. Corona, California (+$273.50)
6. Euless, Texas (+$254)
7. Phoenix, Arizona (+$234.50)
8. Foster City, California (+$227)
9. Newark, New Jersey (+$220)
10. Chula Vista, California (+$219.50)
11. Savannah, Georgia (+$214)
12. Tacoma, Washington (+$209)
13. El Cajon, California (+$207.50)
14. East Orange, New Jersey (+$205)
15. Delray Beach, Florida (+$205)

And here are the cities where the median rent has fallen the most from May 2016 to May 2017.

1. Bronxville, New York (-$475)
2. Buffalo, New York ($-355)
3. San Francisco, California (-$226)
4. Walnut Creek, California (-$225)
5. Danbury, Connecticut (-$217)
6. Newport Beach, California (-$202.50)
7. West Hollywood, California (-$144.50)
8. Fort Collins, Colorado (-$130)
9. North Bay Village, Florida (-$126.50)
10. Grand Prairie, Texas (-$106)
11. New Haven, Connecticut (-$100)
12. Providence, Rhode Island (-$100)
13. Oakland, California (-$100)
14. El Paso, Texas (-$95)
15. Long Beach, New York (-$87.50)

Importantly, the most dramatic changes aren't necessarily correlated with a city being cheap or expensive. Take San Francisco, well known as a city with of the highest rents in the nation. According to Zillow's data, the median rent took a significant fall over the last year, but that still leaves the city's median rent at $3,374, which is very high. In fact, Apartment List (which has different median numbers on one-bedroom apartments) has San Francisco as the nation's most expensive city to rent in.

Get details on why each city's rent has fluctuated and where they ultimately landed here, even though it won't change your rent.

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Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record but has never met the fingernail lady. Follow him @dlukenelson.