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Texas just barely edged out NY for more expensive rent. Seriously. This is why averages across entire states are worthless for understanding many economic fact

Texas just barely edged out NY for more expensive rent. Seriously. This is why averages across entire states are worthless for understanding many economic factors affecting people. This is Info-fastfood. There’s no nutritional value in this data. First off the data should be presented in at least a county level or MSA. A cloropleth map would be nice too.

thesmallestcat 9y ago
Agreed. Lincoln, NE shows up as one of the most expensive, which I believe is influenced by its large student population.
- extra88 9y ago
  Lincoln is listed as one of the least expensive, amongst the 100 most populous cities. Presumably the population count includes the college students. Note that the "least expensive" data is from people reporting their rent on loan applications. College students probably take out fewer loans and would be underrepresented in the data set. Edit: I see Lincoln is also one of the higher ones as a percentage of income; that could be skewed by college students but again, this data is from loan applications.
  - thesmallestcat 9y ago
    Yes, the percentage chart is what I was referring to.
extra88 9y ago
> Texas just barely edged out NY for more expensive rent. Seriously. So? New York State is not New York City. New York City is populous but the rest of the state's cities pale in comparison and in decline. Texas has multiple expensive cities with populations over a million. And rents in NYC vary widely; Manhattan is much more expensive than Staten Island.
- sremani 9y ago
  The problem is the rent control apartments in NYC skew the data and does make it apple to apple. That is the difficulty here. Rural NY to Rural TX, I will bet anytime that Rural TX is cheaper especially in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas.
  - BenchRouter 9y ago
    > The problem is the rent control apartments in NYC skew the data and does make it apple to apple Last time I checked, rent controlled apartments make up ~1% of housing units in the city, and that number decreases all the time (because the supply of rent controlled apartments is constantly decreasing). So, I think I'd need to see a citation that rent control has any serious effects on NYC housing prices. I'm not saying that 1% couldn't have larger effects, but given the small amount of rent-controlled units I think the burden of proof is on you here. > Rural NY to Rural TX, I will bet anytime that Rural TX is cheaper especially in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas. Why? I think you have a very different picture in mind of what rural NY looks like. There are a ton of extremely poor towns and cities up near Rochester and Buffalo. Lots and lots of rust belt remnants in the western part of the state that haven't recovered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#/media/File:Total_mfctrg_jobs_change_54-02.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#/media/File:Total_mf... Maybe it's $50 for a 1 bedroom in west Texas vs. $60 for a 1 bedroom on the outskirts of Hammond NY, but I don't think that's a very meaningful difference.
    - extra88 9y ago
      Yes, I was thinking more the Southern Tier for remote New York but Hammond is a good border town example of very un-NYC New York living. My guess is remote parts of Texas are probably still cheaper. It's so big, remote towns can't be bedroom communities, they're less well-regulated so building costs are probably lower, and property taxes are probably lower (less expensive maintenance than in NY weather and they don't take care of their citizens as well).
nunez 9y ago
You get WAY more apartment for your money down here. Here in the Dallas suburbs, for the same money you’ll pay for a studio or one-bedroom in not-cool areas of Brooklyn, almost every apartment has central AC, a dishwasher, parking, modern utilities, a washer/dryer hookup, RELIABLE MAINTENANCE and valet trash service. Many , ours included, also have additional amenities such as pools, gyms and common areas. Ours is about five minutes from two major highways that take us to Dallas or Ft Worth in less than 30 minutes without traffic (1 hour with, at most). Also, that median price isn’t too far off from what it costs to get a luxury apartment in a downtown. There aren’t that many $3k/mo apartments because, at that rate, you might as well get a house.

thesmallestcat 9y ago

Agreed. Lincoln, NE shows up as one of the most expensive, which I believe is influenced by its large student population.

extra88 9y ago
Lincoln is listed as one of the least expensive, amongst the 100 most populous cities. Presumably the population count includes the college students. Note that the "least expensive" data is from people reporting their rent on loan applications. College students probably take out fewer loans and would be underrepresented in the data set. Edit: I see Lincoln is also one of the higher ones as a percentage of income; that could be skewed by college students but again, this data is from loan applications.
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  Yes, the percentage chart is what I was referring to.

extra88 9y ago

> Texas just barely edged out NY for more expensive rent. Seriously. So? New York State is not New York City. New York City is populous but the rest of the state's cities pale in comparison and in decline. Texas has multiple expensive cities with populations over a million. And rents in NYC vary widely; Manhattan is much more expensive than Staten Island.

sremani 9y ago
The problem is the rent control apartments in NYC skew the data and does make it apple to apple. That is the difficulty here. Rural NY to Rural TX, I will bet anytime that Rural TX is cheaper especially in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas.
- BenchRouter 9y ago
  > The problem is the rent control apartments in NYC skew the data and does make it apple to apple Last time I checked, rent controlled apartments make up ~1% of housing units in the city, and that number decreases all the time (because the supply of rent controlled apartments is constantly decreasing). So, I think I'd need to see a citation that rent control has any serious effects on NYC housing prices. I'm not saying that 1% couldn't have larger effects, but given the small amount of rent-controlled units I think the burden of proof is on you here. > Rural NY to Rural TX, I will bet anytime that Rural TX is cheaper especially in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas. Why? I think you have a very different picture in mind of what rural NY looks like. There are a ton of extremely poor towns and cities up near Rochester and Buffalo. Lots and lots of rust belt remnants in the western part of the state that haven't recovered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#/media/File:Total_mfctrg_jobs_change_54-02.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#/media/File:Total_mf... Maybe it's $50 for a 1 bedroom in west Texas vs. $60 for a 1 bedroom on the outskirts of Hammond NY, but I don't think that's a very meaningful difference.
  - extra88 9y ago
    Yes, I was thinking more the Southern Tier for remote New York but Hammond is a good border town example of very un-NYC New York living. My guess is remote parts of Texas are probably still cheaper. It's so big, remote towns can't be bedroom communities, they're less well-regulated so building costs are probably lower, and property taxes are probably lower (less expensive maintenance than in NY weather and they don't take care of their citizens as well).

nunez 9y ago

You get WAY more apartment for your money down here. Here in the Dallas suburbs, for the same money you’ll pay for a studio or one-bedroom in not-cool areas of Brooklyn, almost every apartment has central AC, a dishwasher, parking, modern utilities, a washer/dryer hookup, RELIABLE MAINTENANCE and valet trash service. Many , ours included, also have additional amenities such as pools, gyms and common areas. Ours is about five minutes from two major highways that take us to Dallas or Ft Worth in less than 30 minutes without traffic (1 hour with, at most). Also, that median price isn’t too far off from what it costs to get a luxury apartment in a downtown. There aren’t that many $3k/mo apartments because, at that rate, you might as well get a house.