Many or all companies we feature compensate us. Compensation and editorial research influence how products appear on a page. Personal Finance The Fastest-Growing Cities That Are Still Affordable For Renters Published Nov 10, 2020 5-min read Written by Mike Brown Written by Mike Brown Expertise: Mike Brown uses data from surveys and publicly-available resources to identify emerging personal finance trends and tell unique stories. Mike’s work, featured in outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, provides consumers with a personal finance measuring stick to make informed financial decisions. Learn more about Mike Brown For young adults unlikely to afford homeownership just yet, there are two key things they are looking for in the city they will call home after college. Affordable rent and a city’s potential for growth. The former allows renters to live comfortably while still saving enough money to eventually buy homes and start families, and the latter means there are expanding job opportunities in the area to provide young adults with good salaries and promising careers. Yet, it’s tough to find both attributes in a city because if it’s booming then rent prices are sure to skyrocket. So here at LendEDU, we analyzed data on nearly 30,000 American cities to tell you the fastest-growing cities that are still affordable for renters. Below, you will find a list of the 1,000 U.S. cities that are projected to grow the most over the next five years; each place is then ranked according to its average monthly rent, which includes utilities. The cities toward the top of the list are not only the fastest-growing communities in the country, but are also some of the most affordable places to rent, making them excellent locations for young adults to start their life journies. Jump To: Is Renters Insurance Worth It? The Fastest-Growing Cities That Are Still Affordable For Renters To see how a city ranked within only its state, either sort the table on the “State” column or type your desired state into the search bar. To be considered for this ranking, a city had to have a minimum population of 15,000. Further, a city had to then rank in the top 1,000 for its five-year population projection percent increase from its current population. The data found below derives from a dataset from GreatData that was licensed by LendEDU. GreatData compiles the most up-to-date data and estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, in addition to calculating its own projections based on historical trends, to provide accurate and current household data for over 25,000 U.S. cities. The “Average Monthly Rent” statistic for each city includes utilities. Is Renters Insurance Worth It? If you find yourself getting ready to rent a home or apartment, you’re likely thinking about renters insurance. Due to its affordability, renters insurance is usually worth it because it can offer thousands of dollars worth of protection for a very minimal monthly cost. Specifically, the average renters insurance policy costs just $16 per month, and at that price, you can usually have your personal property covered, in addition to covering things like personal liability, additional living expenses, and medical payments. So if you’re renting with a renters insurance policy and your laptop is stolen, renters insurance will usually have you covered. Or, if someone gets hurt in your home, renters insurance often covers that person’s medical bills and associated costs even if you are liable for the injury. And if your home is so damaged that you need a temporary place to live, renters insurance typically covers those living costs. If you’re interested in renters insurance, LendEDU has provided a list of the best renters insurance companies around, including companies like Lemonade and Nationwide. Methodology All data in this report comes from GreatData. LendEDU licensed the dataset provided by GreatData, which derives mainly from the U.S. Census Bureau. For data points like “Average Monthly Rent,” the data derives from the most recent U.S. Census Bureau update but GreatData also calculates and combines its own projections based on historical trends to provide the most up-to-date data. The “Average Monthly Rent” statistic for each city includes utilities. The “5-Year Population Projection Percent Increase From Current Population” figure comes from finding the percent increase from each city’s current population to its projected population in five years. For example, we took a given city’s current population according to the latest estimates and lined it up with its five-year population projection according to the latest estimates. We then found the percent increase from the former to the latter to provide the “5-Year Population Projection Percent Increase From Current Population” for each city. For some cities listed in the report, GreatData provided multiple ZIP Codes within the city, with each ZIP Code having its own data. In these instances, LendEDU combined all ZIP Code data for that city to provide a single, weighted stat line for each city. For example, to find the weighted average monthly rent statistic for a city with multiple ZIP Codes, we weighted each ZIP Code’s average monthly rent by that same ZIP Code’s current population estimate. LendEDU did not have to complete this weighting process for the population numbers for any city with multiple ZIP Codes as those population figures were simply summed together. To be considered for this ranking, a city had to have a minimum population of 15,000. Further, a city had to then rank in the top 1,000 for its five-year population projection percent increase from its current population. Once each eligible city had a single statistic line for all pertinent statistics, LendEDU ranked each city from lowest to highest according to its respective average monthly rent cost. See more of LendEDU’s Research here.