25 Cities Where You Can Rent a Room for Less Than $1,000 a Month

Take a look at your monthly budget. What’s the most expensive line item? Almost certainly, it’s your rent.

As Zillow has recently reported, rent levels have rocketed upward far faster than incomes since 2019, making housing costs increasingly difficult to afford in America. Is it even possible to pay less than $1,000 for rent in a major city?

It turn out, the answer is yes — but with a caveat.

If you’re willing to rent a place with a single room (as opposed to a multi-room apartment, for instance), Zillow has found that a number of large metropolitan areas offer apartments for less than $1,000. In fact, Zillow noted that a one-room apartment priced at $1,000 or even less can be attained in at least 86 of America’s 100 largest cities.

If you don’t need a great deal of space or you are willing to scale down to single-room living for a while in order to build up your savings, you can rent a room in the following cities for less than $1,000. GOBankingRates has organized the metropolitan areas from most expensive to least expensive in terms of single-room costs.

Also see where you can save the most with a roommate.

• Median rent: $950
• Share of affordable apartments: 80.6%

• Median rent: $950
• Share of affordable apartments: 68.8%

• Median rent: $950
• Share of affordable apartments: 65.2%

• Median rent: $950
• Share of affordable apartments: 68.5%

• Median rent: $910
• Share of affordable apartments: 63.4%

• Median rent: $900
• Share of affordable apartments: 62.2%

• Median rent: $900
• Share of affordable apartments: 91.6%

• Median rent: $900
• Share of affordable apartments: 78.4%

• Median rent: $900
• Share of affordable apartments: 83.5%

• Median rent: $900
• Share of affordable apartments: 84.6%

• Median rent: $895
• Share of affordable apartments: 87.1%

• Median rent: $895
• Share of affordable apartments: 90.2%

• Median rent: $895
• Share of affordable apartments: 92.4%

• Median rent: $888
• Share of affordable apartments: 88.6%

• Median rent: $875
• Share of affordable apartments: 90.5%

• Median rent: $875
• Share of affordable apartments: 81.5%

• Median rent: $867
• Share of affordable apartments: 80.9%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 84.6%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 57.6%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 90.3%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 79.4%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 68.8%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 74.0%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 94.3%

• Median rent: $850
• Share of affordable apartments: 71.4%