Three things to know about a New Yorker: we like our bagels and our baconeggncheeses, speed walking is our normal walking speed, and we’ll sit and complain about how damn high our rent is until we’re blue in the face. And though the average rent in NYC is a staggering 149% higher than the rest of the country, a recent report released by Smart Asset found that another city is actually worse off than us.
SmartAsset, an online destination for consumer-focused financial information and advice, sought out to find the U.S. cities with the highest average rent, and you can let out your sigh of relief because New York City did not come in first. Actually, that title went to our friends over in Boston, where the highest average rent for all homes as of February 28th, 2025 was $3,495.
But okay, maybe we spoke to soon, because with that being said NYC wasn’t far behind–we placed as the city with the second highest average rent, clocking in at $3,489 as of February 28th, 2025. But you know what they say: first is the worst, second is the best, or something like that…
When comparing the two cities, NYC’s rent did jump higher than Boston’s compared to last year, with a 4.14% one-year change in average rent compared to a 4.06% one-year change in average rent, respectively. But neither city can compare to Newark, New Jersey, where rent increased the most over the past year with a 8.11% one-year change in average rent. We’d like to send those numbers in a letter to all those that claim Jersey is better than NY!
The remaining cities ranking in the top five–and we’ll preface this by saying it’s a bad day to be a Californian–are San Francisco, CA, Irvine, CA and San Jose, CA, with average rent prices of $3,368, $3,306, and $3,131, respectively.
SmartAsset’s methodology consisted of analyzing Zillow’s Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). Data as of February 2025, February 2024, and February 2020 was compared, representing the average for all homes for 100 of the largest U.S. cities.
10 U.S. Cities with the Highest Average Rent
1. Boston, MA – average rent, 2025: $3,495
2. New York City, NY – average rent, 2025: $3,489
3. San Francisco, CA – average rent, 2025: $3,368
4. Irvine, California, CA – average rent, 2025: $3,306
5. San Jose, CA – average rent, 2025: $3,131
6. Jersey City, New Jersey – average rent, 2025: $3,129
7. Chula Vista, CA – average rent, 2025: $3,126
8. San Diego, CA – average rent, 2025: $3,025
9. Miami, FL – average rent, 2025: $3,019
10. Naples, FL – average rent, 2025: $2,912
If you are looking to cut costs, these countries will actually pay you to move there and you can get paid to party as a tenant in this NYC residence.