Chicago may not be the most expensive city for apartment rentals, but a new study shows that renters of one-bedroom apartments are paying a lot more this year than they were last year.
A study by rental website Zumper shows that the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Chicago rose 11.6 percent over the last year. The median rental price now sits at $1,920, according to Zumper.
While that number seems high, several other large cities experienced even greater spikes. Oakland, California, saw the greatest increase at 20 percent. Apartments in Oakland are just barely more expensive than in Chicago, with the median rental price for a one-bedroom at $1,980.
Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Sacramento, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and San Francisco, California, all also saw greater increases in rent than Chicago.
The increase is not a nationwide trend, however. Several other large cities saw decreases in average rental prices, including Nashville, Tennessee (-19.6 percent); Cleveland, Ohio (-14.7 percent); Minneapolis, Minnesota (-14.2 percent) and Detroit, Michigan (-10.7 percent).
Overall, Chicago is the seventh most expensive large city when it comes to rental prices, according to Zumper. San Francisco takes the top spot, with median rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $3,500. New York, Boston, San Jose, Washington D.C. and Oakland follow San Francisco.
Zumper attributes the increasing rental rates in some cities to the rising number of millennials entering the workforce and, consequently, the rental market. Many young professionals are renting instead of buying and moving to major metro areas, which can drive up rent prices.
