2019 State of The American Renter Report: Where The Happiest Renters Live

Looking at data for Zumper’s top 50 cities from our recently released 2019 State of The American Renter Report, we wanted to see which cities had the happiest renters based on a few factors. We looked at things like apartment satisfaction, plans to move, hometown pride, and even owning a pet and ranked the cities based on those responses.

1. Miami, FL

Miami topped our list as the city with the happiest renters. Ranking especially high in the ‘Good Deal’ and ‘Satisfaction’ categories, Miami renters were very satisfied with their living situations and thought they were getting good deals on their apartments. A majority of Miami renters also reported not planning to relocate in the next year, which goes hand in hand with the overall satisfaction score.

2. Oakland, CA

Although Oakland was second overall, this city actually ranked the highest in the ‘Duration’ category, which means a large majority of renters here have lived in their apartments for 5 or more years, so the renter retention is very high. Oakland renters also ranked in the top 10 for the “Good Deal” and “Satisfaction” categories as well.

3. Austin, TX

Austin ranked as having the third happiest renters in the nation overall. Of the top 10 markets, it actually had the highest ‘Satisfaction’ score. This city also ranked near the top for the ‘Pets’ category so a lot of these happy Austin renters also seemed to own pets.

4. San Jose, CA

As the second California city to make this list, San Jose nearly topped the charts for the ‘Duration’ category, ranking just after Oakland. It seems once a renter finds an apartment in the Bay Area that he or she are satisfied with, since San Jose also ranked near the top for apartment satisfaction as well, it’s tough to leave.

5. Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia made it into our top five markets with a majority of renters satisfied with their living situation and believing that they are getting a good deal on their apartments.

6. Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles was the third California city to make it onto this list, but the first in Southern California. Los Angeles renters ranked especially high in the ‘Duration’ category, spending many years in their apartment, and near the top for ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Good Deal’ as well.

7. Boston, MA

Boston ranked very highly in the ‘Good Deal’ and ‘Satisfaction’ categories, catapulting it up to be seventh overall.

8. Honolulu, HI

Pulled up by it’s especially high scores in the ‘Relocation’ and ‘Good Deal’ categories, Honolulu ranked as the 8th happiest city with renters believing that they are getting a good deal on their apartment and not looking to move away from the island life any time soon.

9. Portland, OR

The majority of Portland renters believed that they were getting a good deal and do not plan to relocate in the next year, which was compelling enough to lift this city up to ninth. Notably, Portland renters also owned the most pets of the top 10 cities!

10. San Diego, CA

Rounding out our top 10 list and experiencing similar trends to the other California cities, San Diego ranked highly in the ‘Duration’ and ‘Good Deal’ categories. It seems like it must take a lot for California renters, whether in the North or South, to move apartments. Notably, of the top 10 cities, San Diego actually had the most hometown pride.

Full Data

Overall Rank	City	Good Deal Rank	Satisfaction Rank	5+ Years Duration Rank	Relocation Rank	Hometown Pride Rank	Pets Rank
1	Miami, FL	1	5	18	12	21	24
2	Oakland, CA	8	8	1	32	45	18
3	Austin, TX	2	2	44	22	46	14
4	San Jose, CA	18	6	2	37	18	37
5	Philadelphia, PA	4	11	25	20	16	27
6	Los Angeles, CA	14	12	5	29	30	20
7	Boston, MA	7	7	27	23	32	29
8	Honolulu, HI	6	26	12	3	24	50
9	Portland, OR	13	15	22	17	23	3
10	San Diego, CA	11	27	7	16	14	13
11	New York, NY	19	13	8	10	33	46
12	Sacramento, CA	15	41	4	4	9	19
13	Minneapolis, MN	32	9	10	27	17	10
14	San Francisco, CA	24	3	35	33	44	47
15	Long Beach, CA	20	4	21	46	12	33
16	Chicago, IL	9	21	28	26	11	42
17	New Orleans, LA	5	24	38	24	5	37
18	Baltimore, MD	17	20	23	19	20	40
19	Houston, TX	33	25	32	2	42	31
20	Washington, DC	10	17	37	34	43	34
21	Charlotte, NC	27	33	31	1	31	49
22	Buffalo, NY	25	15	18	48	2	12
23	Providence, RI	3	29	45	41	3	25
24	Nashville, TN	31	22	47	5	39	8
25	Las Vegas, NV	36	35	17	8	26	22
26	Denver, CO	39	18	43	21	22	2
27	Raleigh, NC	22	29	41	36	15	9
28	Memphis, TN	16	44	33	14	10	39
29	Salt Lake City, UT	25	19	46	40	18	4
30	St Petersburg, FL	21	23	48	9	46	15
31	Seattle, WA	42	32	24	6	35	26
32	Pittsburgh, PA	23	36	39	35	7	17
33	Chandler, AZ	47	1	50	37	26	16
34	Boise, ID	46	42	13	15	13	1
35	Orlando, FL	34	29	42	11	48	11
36	Richmond, VA	36	37	36	28	6	23
37	Atlanta, GA	35	40	30	13	37	45
38	Dallas, TX	41	28	34	31	40	36
39	St Louis, MO	44	45	9	24	4	28
40	Phoenix, AZ	45	39	29	30	24	6
41	Anaheim, CA	36	46	3	43	26	21
42	Fort Worth, TX	30	48	6	43	8	35
43	Akron, OH	28	49	18	42	1	48
44	Fort Lauderdale, FL	48	47	11	7	41	41
45	Durham, NC	49	14	13	43	50	29
46	Madison, WI	40	10	49	48	49	7
47	Santa Ana, CA	43	34	26	47	36	43
48	Aurora, CO	12	50	15	39	34	32
49	Newark, NJ	29	43	16	50	29	43
50	Tampa, FL	50	38	40	18	38	5

Methodology

To determine the cities with the happiest renters, we took the top 50 cities from our monthly National Rent Report and analyzed data from our 2019 State of the American Renter Report on 6 key metrics. These metrics included:

• % of respondents who thought they were getting a good deal on their apartment
• % of respondents who were satisfied with their current living situation
• % of respondents who have lived in their apartment for 5+ years
• % of respondents who were not planning to relocate in the next year
• % of respondents who went to college in their hometown or considered moving back to their hometown after graduation
• % of respondents who owned at least 1 pet

Each city then received a rank for each metric and then a weighted score for each metric. For the weightings, good deal, satisfaction, and apartment retention each accounted for 25% of the score, no plans on relocating accounted for 15%, and hometown pride and pets each accounted for 5%. The final ranking was determined by adding up each city’s weighted scores to see who scored highest overall.