Santa Rosa is among the best places to rent in the United States, according to a report out this week by financial website WalletHub.
Sonoma County’s largest city dropped seven spots from last year, but still squeezed into the middle of WalletHub’s list of “Best & Worst Places to Rent in America (2024)“ and was ranked 90th out of 182 listed cities, coming in between Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Antonio, Texas.
To put together the list, WalletHub looked at the rental market, affordability and quality of life in each of the listed cities.
To determine rental markets and affordability, WalletHub compared statistics such as rental vacancies, average home size, rent-price changes over the year, and cost of living in each city. Quality of life stats taken into consideration included commute times, recreation options, favorable weather, school rankings and even state bedbug laws for rental properties.
According to WalletHub, the best place to rent in America is Bismarck, North Dakota, where renters spend the least amount of their annual income on rent, just 15%, and pay the lowest renters insurance premiums on average. The city also boasts a large number of new homes to choose from and a large average square footage for homes, at 2,376 feet.
Other cities that topped the list include Overland Park, Kansas; Scottsdale, Arizona; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Lewiston, Maine.
In its ranking, Santa Rosa scored high in quality of life, at No. 35, though the city scored low in affordability and rental market, at No. 143. Last year, Santa Rosa ranked No. 25 in quality of life and No. 162 in affordability and rental market.
California’s top city to rent in, according to WalletHub, is the Bay Area city of Fremont, which was ranked 19. Other California cities that ranked high on the list include Irvine (No. 22), San Francisco (No. 33), San Jose (No. 41), San Diego (No. 57), and Bakersfield (No. 81).
California cities that ranked lower on the list include Sacramento ((No. 100), Modesto (No. 112), Anaheim (No. 121), Fresno (No. 122), Stockton (No. 123), Los Angeles (No. 133), and Oakland (No. 167).
The worst city to rent in, according to WalletHub, is Memphis, Tennessee.
Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.