Rentcafe’s annual report on apartment living shows that footage of apartment squares has increased for the first time in years for some communities. But it probably isn’t yours.
Tallahassee, Florida. Gainesville, Florida. Baton Rouge, LA. Knoxville, Tennessee. Marietta, Georgia, took the top spot on the list of cities with the largest apartments. If you live in Tallahassee, you’ll get an average new apartment size of 1,130 square feet.
The average new apartment size across the nation is currently 908 square feet (jumps from the past few years), but in many places, that number is much lower.
Seattle holds the top spot for the smallest apartments in the US: 649 square feet. Portland, Oregon. Queens, New York; Brooklyn, New York; San Francisco rounds out the top five cities with its smallest new apartments.
Honorable mentions to San Francisco – Small apartments in San Francisco (average 716 square feet) have actually increased in size over the past decade. As Rentcafe says, “It’s clear that developers are meeting the demand for more space.”
10-year trends for average apartment sizes. April 2025 (RentCafe)
The average new apartment size in Los Angeles, where KTLA is located, is 789 square feet. It’s not surprising. However, there are 15 cities with small apartment sizes.
KTLA Consumer reported that David Lazarus will break down the data.
“It’s not a big surprise here. Many home prices are on the sidelines for many buyers, so the rental units had many buyers, but after the recent gusts of construction, there were a large portion of apartments vacant in some markets.
Lazarus calls small apartments in the hotter market a sign of “shrinkage.”
“What’s disappointing is that apartments in the hot housing market are becoming smaller as developers and landlords try to cram more tenants into Tinier space. New York has long been infamous for this, and LA is experiencing similar contractions as they have a desire to live in an area that wants to live in a workplace.”
Overall, which cities see the biggest downward swing in apartment size? Arlington, Texas. Birmingham, Alabama. Detroit; Memphis, Tennessee. Fort Myers, Florida. Arlington’s new apartment unit is a whopping 215 square feet smaller 10 years ago. Rentcafe says it’s a sign that developers are meeting the demand for one-bedroom units.
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