Try Not to Freak Out: What Rent Costs in America’s Priciest Zip Codes

published Dec 26, 2018

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If you had to guess where the most expensive neighborhood in the country is, what would you say?

The answer probably won’t surprise you (it has taken the top spot two years in a row!) According to a recent report from RentCafe, the zip code with the highest average rent is 10282—AKA the upper part of Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan—right by the water, and just north of the World Trade Center. The rent there? A whopping $5,657.

In second place is 10013, the section of Lower Manhattan that encompasses Tribeca and Soho with an average rent of $5,226. Manhattan gets a break with third place, as L.A.’s 90024 come in with an average rent of $4,883. But then in four place… yep, you guessed it, also Manhattan, but Uptown this time in Lenox Hill—10065.

In fact, Manhattan takes 14 (fourteen!!!) of the top 20 spots—leaving just one zip code in Boston at No. 11 (02199, if you were wondering), two in L.A. (No. 3—90024 and No. 12—90048), two in San Francisco at No. 6 and No. 14 (94105 and 94158, respectively), and one in Corte Madera (No. 18’s 94925).

For comparison, RentCafe also listed the top 20 zip codes with the lowest average rent costs. The top two spots on the low-rent list, with an average rent of only $422 and $465 respectively, go to 67213 and 67211 in Wichita, Kansas. (Wichita actually takes 5 of the top 20 spots).

In third place? Memphis, Tennessee with an average rent of $474. And the rest of the top 20 is made up of neighborhoods in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Ohio.

The report looked at rent data for over 15 million rental units. You can view an interactive map of the report at RentCafe, so you can see the rest of the states covered and where they fall.