San Jose and Salt Lake City Have the Most Rental Shoppers Looking to Move Away
Los Angeles and Chicago are the most common destinations for rental shoppers searching outside their current location
- Nearly half of rent shoppers in San Jose and Salt Lake City search for rentals outside the metro area.
- Nationally, more than a quarter (26.6 percent) of HotPads users search for rental listings outside their current metro area.
- In most metro areas analyzed, more expensive markets are popular with renters looking to move away.
- Los Angeles is the most popular search destination for people looking for rentals outside their current metro area, followed by Chicago.
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- San Jose, Calif., and Salt Lake City, Utah, have the highest share of people looking at apartment and home rental listings outside their current metro area, according to a new HotPads® analysisi.
Nationally, more than a quarter (26.6 percent) of HotPads users search for rental listings in metro areas other than their own. In comparison, nearly half of rental shoppers in San Jose (47.9 percent) and Salt Lake City (46.1 percent) look to move elsewhere.
San Francisco is the most common search destination for San Jose renters looking in other markets, accounting for 22.3 percent of searches made by San Jose rent shoppers. The median rent is $3,685 per month in San Jose and $3,460 per month in San Francisco.
Los Angeles is the most popular search destination for Salt Lake City rent shoppers looking outside the metro area, with 6 percent of Salt Lake City-based searches focusing on Los Angeles. The median rent is $2,890 per month in Los Angeles and $1,580 per month in Salt Lake City.
Most rental shoppers searching in different metro areas end up looking in pricier markets – in about three quarters of the metro areas analyzed, the most popular search destination for renters looking elsewhere has a more expensive median rent.
"Trends in rental searches can indicate how renters feel about their current living situation and what they'd like to change," said Joshua Clark, economist at HotPads. "While prospective renters looking in new cities can sometimes be tempted by affordable prices, other motivations drive many of their searches. Booming job markets tend to attract those with a wandering eye. While many people search for homes and apartments in new cities without concrete plans to move, over time we typically see some of these aspirational rental searches manifest into actual housing choices."
Los Angeles was the most popular search destination for those looking elsewhere among the metros analyzed – including in New York, Seattle and New Orleans. Chicago was the second most popular search destination for outsiders, particularly among Midwestern markets including Milwaukee and Indianapolis.
Current Chicago and Los Angeles residents are also the least likely to search outside their area for rental listings, with less than 20 percent of rental searches in each metro focusing on other locations. While more than a quarter of people who shop for a rental look in a new metro area, most renters ultimately stick close to home – more than half of renters who move end up relocating within their current city, according to the 2018 Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report.
HotPads is a Zillow® Group-owned apartment and home search platform for renters in urban areas across the United States. For more information on the U.S. rental market, visit HotPads.com.
Metropolitan Area |
Median Rent |
Median |
Share of |
Most Popular |
Share of |
United States |
$1,500 |
2.5% |
26.6%ii |
Los Angeles, CA |
16.8%iii |
New York, NY |
$2,360 |
1.1% |
43.0% |
Los Angeles, CA |
5.1% |
Los Angeles, CA |
$2,890 |
4.2% |
16.1% |
Riverside, CA |
2.7% |
Chicago, IL |
$1,780 |
1.9% |
15.0% |
Los Angeles, CA |
1.1% |
Dallas, TX |
$1,655 |
3.1% |
34.3% |
Los Angeles, CA |
2.9% |
Philadelphia, PA |
$1,665 |
2.2% |
20.1% |
New York, NY |
1.8% |
Houston, TX |
$1,585 |
2.7% |
36.8% |
Los Angeles, CA |
3.9% |
Miami, FL |
$2,005 |
2.3% |
21.8% |
Atlanta, GA |
1.7% |
Atlanta, GA |
$1,450 |
5.1% |
23.4% |
Los Angeles, CA |
1.4% |
Boston, MA |
$2,405 |
3.1% |
38.3% |
Providence, RI |
8.4% |
San Francisco, CA |
$3,460 |
3.2% |
33.4% |
Los Angeles, CA |
5.8% |
Detroit, MI |
$1,285 |
3.6% |
21.8% |
Chicago, IL |
2.8% |
Riverside, CA |
$1,930 |
5.7% |
35.8% |
Los Angeles, CA |
17.1% |
Phoenix, AZ |
$1,470 |
5.7% |
23.9% |
Los Angeles, CA |
3.3% |
Seattle, WA |
$2,225 |
4.3% |
24.2% |
Los Angeles, CA |
2.5% |
Minneapolis, MN |
$1,670 |
3.9% |
35.2% |
Chicago, IL |
5.3% |
San Diego, CA |
$2,680 |
4.8% |
21.4% |
Los Angeles, CA |
6.2% |
St. Louis, MO |
$1,195 |
2.1% |
30.7% |
Chicago, IL |
4.4% |
Tampa, FL |
$1,460 |
4.6% |
25.0% |
Miami, FL |
1.8% |
Baltimore, MD |
$1,745 |
1.0% |
32.3% |
Washington, D.C |
11.4% |
Denver, CO |
$2,100 |
3.7% |
29.2% |
Boulder, CO |
2.6% |
Pittsburgh, PA |
$1,095 |
2.0% |
28.4% |
Philadelphia, PA |
2.0% |
Portland, OR |
$1,930 |
2.8% |
25.9% |
Seattle, WA |
3.7% |
Charlotte, NC |
$1,370 |
3.8% |
35.2% |
Atlanta, GA |
2.2% |
Sacramento, CA |
$1,940 |
6.5% |
27.4% |
Los Angeles, CA |
4.3% |
San Antonio, TX |
$1,380 |
2.3% |
32.4% |
Austin, TX |
5.3% |
Orlando, FL |
$1,505 |
5.5% |
32.5% |
Tampa, FL |
4.9% |
Cincinnati, OH |
$1,220 |
2.9% |
28.2% |
Chicago, IL |
4.0% |
Cleveland, OH |
$1,195 |
2.2% |
36.0% |
Chicago, IL |
5.5% |
Kansas City, MO |
$1,250 |
3.1% |
26.1% |
Chicago, IL |
2.5% |
Las Vegas, NV |
$1,395 |
6.1% |
22.2% |
Los Angeles, CA |
5.1% |
Columbus, OH |
$1,420 |
3.8% |
29.1% |
Cincinnati, OH |
2.7% |
Indianapolis, IN |
$1,235 |
3.4% |
28.4% |
Chicago, IL |
7.3% |
San Jose, CA |
$3,685 |
3.5% |
47.9% |
San Francisco, CA |
22.3% |
Austin, TX |
$1,735 |
1.4% |
35.7% |
Dallas, TX |
3.3% |
Virginia Beach, VA |
$1,475 |
1.6% |
25.0% |
Richmond, VA |
3.8% |
Nashville, TN |
$1,500 |
2.6% |
39.7% |
Atlanta, GA |
2.7% |
Providence, RI |
$1,760 |
4.0% |
36.2% |
Boston, MA |
21.3% |
Milwaukee, WI |
$1,385 |
1.9% |
33.3% |
Chicago, IL |
9.3% |
Jacksonville, FL |
$1,375 |
4.1% |
29.2% |
Orlando, FL |
2.4% |
Memphis, TN |
$1,040 |
2.4% |
30.2% |
New York, NY |
2.3% |
Oklahoma City, OK |
$1,115 |
1.3% |
25.4% |
Dallas, TX |
3.6% |
Louisville, KY |
$1,130 |
3.1% |
33.9% |
Chicago, IL |
3.0% |
Hartford, CT |
$1,655 |
1.4% |
43.9% |
New Haven, CT |
8.0% |
Richmond, VA |
$ 1,450 |
4.0% |
23.9% |
Washington, D.C. |
4.0% |
New Orleans, LA |
$1,440 |
1.4% |
21.3% |
Los Angeles, CA |
1.6% |
Buffalo, NY |
$1,275 |
3.4% |
27.4% |
New York, NY |
2.3% |
Raleigh, NC |
$1,470 |
2.8% |
43.3% |
Durham, NC |
5.9% |
Birmingham, AL |
$1,045 |
2.7% |
37.7% |
Atlanta, GA |
3.9% |
Salt Lake City, UT |
$1,580 |
4.8% |
46.1% |
Los Angeles, CA |
6.0% |
HotPads
HotPads is an efficient rental search platform for urban areas across the United States, with features designed for competitive markets such as map-based search, real-time notifications and detailed information on landlords and property managers that help renters spend less time searching and more time feeling excited about their next home.
Launched in 2005, HotPads is based in San Francisco and is owned and operated by Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z and ZG).
HotPads is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.
i HotPads analyzed search activity on its rental listings in the 50 largest U.S. metros to determine which markets people are searching for rentals in, and where they're searching from. Data are not available for outbound searches in Washington, D.C.
ii Nationwide, 26.6 percent of rental shoppers search for listings outside of the metro they're searching from.
iii In the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, 16.8 percent of rental shoppers are searching for Los Angeles rental listings.
SOURCE Hotpads, Inc.
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