Good luck finding any affordable housing in Washington, D.C. According to a report from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI), the number of affordable apartments with rent and utilities costing $800 or less in the District fell from 60,000 in 2002 to 33,000 in 2013. While it's no surprise that rent has grown over the past few years, the biggest surprise is that it's affecting almost everyone. According to Washingtonian, one-quarter of D.C. renters spend more than half of their income on rent. The rate of households spending more than half on rent has skyrocketed from 50 percent to 64 percent for those earning under 30 percent of the area median income and from one to 10 percent for those earning 80 percent of the area median income. The issue is that while rent grows every year, wages grow at a much slower pace. From 2002 to 2013, wages for middle-income residents grew from $41,990 to $45,970, while their rent payments grew from $10,785 to $15,531 a year. Washington, D.C. now has the fourth most expensive median rent out of every Metropolitan city in the country, underneath Boston, New York, and San Francisco in ascending order.
In this map, real estate blog Zumper breaks down the median listing prices for one-bedroom listings in different areas of Washington, D.C. The map fails to show any neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River and doesn't show every neighborhood that is in the District, but it's a good basic breakdown of what one could expect on the rental market in February 2015. According to Zumper, the city-wide median price for a one-bedroom unit was $2,000. Unsurprisingly, the highest rent prices are located in Georgetown and downtown/Penn Quarter/Chinatown. For those in search of the cheapest units, your best bet is to stay far away from those two areas. Otherwise, you may cough up more money than you can keep
· New York City Is Still Cheaper For Renters Than San Francisco [Curbed NY]
· SF Is Still the Most Expensive City in the US for New Renters [Curbed SF]
· This Is How Far D.C. Incomes Are Falling Behind Rents [Washington City Paper]
· D.C. Was The 4th Most Expensive City To Rent This February [Zumper]
· Report: Low-Cost Apartments All But Gone, Rent Hikes Hitting Most D.C. Residents [WAMU]
· Report: 25 Percent of DC Renters Spend More Than Half Their Income on Rent [Washingtonian]