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In a plot twist no one saw coming (least of all your wallet), New York City didn’t make the list of America’s worst places to rent in 2025. Yes, really.
According to a new study from WalletHub ranking 182 U.S. cities based on rental affordability and quality of life, the Big Apple managed to sidestep the bottom 10 altogether. That might come as a surprise to anyone who’s stared down a $3,800 studio in Murray Hill or lost a bidding war for a walk-up with no stove. But while New York didn’t exactly dominate the top of the list, it didn’t plunge to the bottom either, landing somewhere in the murky middle (at No. 83, to be exact), saved by factors like access to jobs, public transportation and endless bagels.
But don’t pop the Champagne just yet. Just across the Hudson, Newark, New Jersey, found itself named the sixth-worst place in the entire country to rent. Ouch.
WalletHub’s ranking looked at everything from rent-to-income ratios and historical price changes to crime, job availability and weather. And while Newark has proximity to Manhattan going for it, the city struggles in areas like safety and overall affordability. It was joined in the bottom 10 by cities like Detroit, San Bernardino, Cleveland, Memphis and—to round out the regional pain—Baltimore.
On the flip side, the best place to rent in 2025 is apparently Overland Park, Kansas, a leafy suburb of Kansas City that probably has no idea what a broker’s fee is. Other top contenders included Fargo, North Dakota; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Not exactly coastal, but incredibly cost-efficient.
When it comes to NYC, it's a reminder that renting here is rarely rational but somehow still manageable, especially compared to places with fewer job prospects and less access to $1 pizza. The city’s sheer scale and diversity of housing stock likely buoyed its ranking, along with (shockingly) improved rent stabilization enforcement and a job market that still attracts new arrivals in droves.
In other words, it could be worse. You could be paying almost as much in Newark, without the bodegas, brunch spots or Central Park views to soften the blow.