If you guessed the Big Apple, you'd be wrong. It's the City by the Bay with a median rent of $1,463; New York City had the fifth highest at $1,187. San Jose, Boston, and Washington, D.C. were ranked second, third, and fourth respectively.
San Francisco, a city where "63.6 percent of all units are occupied by renters... has the highest median rent among the nation’s largest cities, beating New York handily, according to data from 2010 to 2012 released today by the U.S. Census Bureau, reports Examiner staff writer Jonah Owen Lamb.
San Francisco is the 14th-largest city in the country, with roughly 825,000 residents as of 2012, and it beat out every larger city in the U.S., and a handful of other high-rent locales, when it comes to median rents: $1,463.
The highest median rent, though, is not a measure of housing affordability, which looks at income as well. In San Francisco, "rents equaling 35 percent or more of household income only applied to 37.6 percent of rental units", writes Lamb. By contrast, Los Angeles, where median rent was $1,159, a whopping 52.7 percent of rental units paid 35 percent or more of their household income to rents," he adds.
While not the most unaffordable city in terms of rental costs, it ranked as the highest concern among San Francisco residents in a September survey, with "50 percent of those polled [citing] the affordability of living in The City as their No. 1 concern," writes Lamb.
The survey is based on "data from 2010 to 2012 released today [Nov. 14] by the U.S. Census Bureau." It was "released as part of the 2012 annual American Community Survey's three-year look at housing data," Lamb writes.
FULL STORY: New numbers show San Francisco has nation’s highest rents
San Francisco's Housing Crisis is Deepening, Despite Falling Rents
Despite the purported exodus of untethered Silicon Valley workers from the Bay Area, rents in the city are still the highest in the United States.
California as a Model for Housing Legislation
The Golden State may have the nation's most severe housing crisis, but there is one area of state housing policy where it shines, becoming a model for other states that want to advance accessory dwelling units, also called granny or in-law units.
Homes, Not Parking
The Balboa Reservoir is the perfect spot for housing in San Francisco, Nicole Lindler argues, and the notion that it should remain a surface parking lot shows badly disordered priorities.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours
The state’s energy grid was entirely powered by clean energy for some portion of the day on 37 out of the last 45 days.
New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
Two federal agencies launched a new, easy-to-use, color-coded heat warning system that combines meteorological and medical risk factors.
AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
