Baltimore Is Among The Best Cities For Renters: Forbes

BALTIMORE, MD — Charm City is among the best cities for renters and Miami is the worst, according to a new set of rankings released by Forbes.

According to Forbes, among all the cities analyzed for the list, Indianapolis is the cheapest place to rent and the second most affordable. Forbes used data from Marcus & Millichap, a brokerage research firm that tracks 46 large markets.

Using the four key statistics listed below that were compiled by Marcus & Millichap, Forbes ranked the metro areas by each metric and then came up with a composite score. The four metrics are as follows:

• Average monthly apartment rent in Q4 2016, net any concessions
• Change in apartment rent from Q4 2015 to Q4 2016
• Average apartment vacancy rate
• Apartment rent as share of average household income

Affordability and apartment rent as a share of household income made up 40 percent of each area's score, while the other three metrics made up 60 percent of the score.

According to Forbes, these are the 15 best cities for renters:

1. Indianapolis, Indiana
2. St. Louis, Missouri
3. Kansas City, Missouri
4. San Antonio, Texas
5. Columbus, Ohio
6. Houston, Texas
7. Jacksonville, Florida
8. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
9. Louisville, Kentucky
10. Cleveland, Ohio
11. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
12. Cincinnati, Ohio
13. Baltimore, Maryland
14. Phoenix, Arizona
15. Austin, Texas

The 15 worst cities for renters:

1. Miami, Florida
2. San Diego, California
3. Manhattan, New York
4. Los Angeles, California
5. Orange County, California
6. Boston, Massachusetts
7. Riverside-San Bernardino, California
8. Oakland, California
9. Sacramento, California
10. Seattle, Washington
11. San Francisco, California
12. Northern New Jersey
13. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
14. Portland, Oregon
15. Orlando, Florida

See more insights on the best and worst places to rent from Forbes.

— By Feroze Dhanoa (Patch National Staff)

Image via Shownbyphotos, licensed under Creative Commons 2.5.