Having trouble paying your rent? You're not alone, and you know that.
"nearly half of Americans polled in a recent Harvard survey said they either personally struggled to pay their rent in the past 12 months..." - Next City
But, we live in Seattle, and Seattle is always a little different - in so many ways.
UC Berkeley dove deeper into the situation by scouring 11 million listings on Craigslist. Not a surprise, Seattle was one of the most expensive, or alternatively, provided the least square footage for the money. The national median rent was $1,145, the national median size was 982 square feet, and the median number of bedrooms was 2. Take that national median rent and only get a little over 800 square feet in Seattle.
The data isn't as important as what you can actually find. In one of our recent articles we used a higher rent, $1,500. None of those apartments had more than 700 square feet, and none had 2 bedrooms.
Craiglist data may suggest one set of medians, but another study notches us much higher, a median 2 bedroom rent is $2,380 (more than double the Craigslist study). Even the median rent for a 1 bedroom ($1,810) is higher than the national median for a 2 bedroom.
Instead of including all of Seattle, some neighborhoods are dramatically different. As we reported earlier; "South Lake Union ($3,030), Belltown/Denny Triangle ($3,200) and Downtown ($3,390). Still, Seattle’s got nothing on Bellevue. The Eastside neighbor is seeing one-bedroom median rents at $2,080 and two-bedroom rents at $2,550."
Still want an area with a median rent like the 2 bedroom national average? Try Lynnwood at $1,150 - for a 1 bedroom, and an annual rent increase over 10%.
· What $1,500 rents you right now around Seattle right now [CS]
· Seattle’s median 1-BR rent ninth in nation once more [CS]
· Seattle rents rise in July but still not as high as Bellevue [CS]
· What 11 Million Craigslist Posts Show About Affordable Housing [NC]