After securing a job, rental rates are typically the first thing which comes to mind when determining where you will reside. Grocery costs, utilities, healthcare, transportation plus miscellaneous goods and services also factor into the equation, but only after rents are taken into consideration. Sometimes this can be a mistake: Apartment Guide's new rental price data was recently released and it compared several cities where you pay less rent but, at a closer look, the total cost of living is actually be higher than initially thought.

“Multifamily rents are trending about 4% – 5% higher especially in the studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments,” says Brian Carberry, Managing Editor for RentPath. “Vacancies levels are low which gives property managers more leeway to raise rents.”

It is not a surprising development as there are a lot of newly completed apartments on the market boasting luxurious surroundings plus a plethora of amenities and as a result, the older apartments are having to renovate in order to stay competitive.

“The flashy new buildings can somewhat now the standard for area comps,” says Carberry.

Here are six places (listed in no particular order) where the area rent is less than the national average, but, upon examination, the total cost of living is higher than anticipated.

Mobile, Alabama Rents: 28.3% lower than the national average Overall cost of living: 7.4% lower than the national average

Bakersfield, California Rents: 13.4% lower than the national average Overall cost of living: 4.4% higher than the national average

Mankato, Minnesota Rents: 14.4% lower than the national average Overall cost of living: 1.7% lower than the national average

Columbia, South Carolina Rents: 14.8% lower than the national average Overall cost of living: 0.1% higher than the national average

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Rents: 49% lower than the national average Overall cost of living: 13.3% lower than the national average

Dover, Delaware Rents: 14% lower than the national average Overall cost of living: 0.7% higher than the national average

Apartment Guide took 2018's end-of-year Cost of Living data from C2ER (The Council for Community and Economic Research) and combined it with rental prices from both theirs and Rent.com's inventory as of January 2019. Average rental costs are based on the price of a 1-bedroom apartment in the 241 cities where there was overlapping data in the Cost of Living report and the Apartment Guide and Rent.com inventory.

Instant Insights /

Six Cities Where Low Rents Equate to a Higher Cost of Living

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