This archive report was first published on 27 August 2019.
In a city where the average rent in Manhattan is $2,980 a month, it's surprising to find places where you can rent a real apartment for under $600 a month. According to a report by Business Insider, in August 2019, two Manhattan landlords were caught renting out illegal sub-units with no windows, sprinklers, or fire-safety systems.
One of the illegal apartments had ceilings as low as 4.5 to 6 feet tall, and the tiny spaces were being rented out for $600 a month, as reported by Gothamist.
Given the high cost of living in New York City, it's no surprise that even illegal micro-apartments will cost renters a pretty penny. In fact, one year's worth of the average legal rent in Manhattan is more than three-quarters of the country's average annual salary, which is $47,060.
However, not every American city is this outrageously expensive. With the help of Zillow, Business Insider compiled a list of cities where you can legally rent a real apartment for less than $600 a month.
Here are the seven largest cities in the US where the median monthly rent is less than $600, ranked from the most to the least expensive, based on data from Niche:
- City 1: Population 1,000,000+
- City 2: Population 500,000-999,999
- City 3: Population 200,000-499,999
- City 4: Population 100,000-199,999
- City 5: Population 50,000-99,999
- City 6: Population 20,000-49,999
- City 7: Population under 20,000
