Zillow study shows two Texas cities where rent is under $1,000

Finding affordability in this housing market is a tough task.

According to Apartments.com, the rent average in the U.S. is $1,631 per month. That's +0.6% higher than this time last year, per their report.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a household is considered cost-burdened if it spends more than 30% of its income on housing expenses such as rent, mortgage payments, and related costs. Those that allocate over 50% of their income to housing are classified as severely cost-burdened.

Per the U.S. Census Bureau, over 21 million renter households spent more than 30% of their income on housing costs in 2023.

So is there places to live that's affordable?

According to a study by Zillow, they researched where apartments could be found for less than $1,000. Two Texas cities made their list.

According to new research from Zillow, finding an apartment to rent for under $1,000 per month is still relatively common in parts of the South and Midwest. In the Texas metro area of McAllen — the only Top-100 U.S. metro alongside Wichita, Kansas — more than half of all apartment listings rent for under $1,000.

According to their methodology, Zillow looked at the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and calculated the share of apartment listings (in those metros) that have monthly rents under $1,000.

Here are 10 cities listed in the study.

METRO AREA	SHARE OF AVAILABLE RENTAL APARTMENTS UNDER $1,000 PER MONTH
Wichita, Kansas	54%
McAllen, Texas	51%
Little Rock, Arkansas	49%
Toledo, Ohio	46%
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	42%
Tulsa, Oklahoma	41%
El Paso, Texas	39%
Akron, Ohio	38%
Dayton, Ohio	38%
Winston-Salem, North Carolina	38%

Nov 20, 2025