Atlanta Ranks Second for Renters

Atlanta is the second-best city in the United States for renters in 2024, RentCafe said, citing its annual survey, which placed Charleston, South Carolina, in first place.

The poll compared 149 cities based on 20 parameters that affect renters, including cost of living, average apartment size, share of new apartments, unemployment rate, commute time and air quality, which were in turn grouped into three main categories: cost of living and housing, which were given a weight of 50%, local economyweighted at 30%, and quality of lifeweighted at 20%.

Atlanta’s strong showings in the local economy and cost of living and housing categories, where it ranked 4th and 9th, respectively, helped the city move up in the rankings from last year, when it ranked 4th.

At 972 square feet, Atlanta also scored well for average apartment size. The top four spots in this area were taken by neighboring Georgia cities (Columbus, Marietta, Athens and Macon). Atlanta ranked No. 1 among cities with populations over 500,000 for transit use and walkability (10% of residents) and ranked No. 2 overall for the number of new business applications in the past year (472).

After Atlanta, Sarasota, Fla., McKinney, Texas, and Scottsdale, Ariz., rounded out the top five, while Newark, N.J., Detroit, and Sunnyvale, Calif., ranked last.