Renters Want Bronx Apartments More Than Pricey Manhattan Ones: Study

NEW YORK CITY — Turns out $4,400 rent makes living in Manhattan not-so-desirable.

At least that's what a new RentCafe study — and, let's face it, common sense — says.

Manhattan fell off the study's top 30 most in-demand cities to live in for the most of June.

But that doesn't mean renters retreated from New York City's boroughs. The Bronx moved up three spots to grab the 14th spot on the list, making it the Northeast's high-ranking location, according to the study.

"New York City’s most affordable borough saw an impressive 46% year-over-year decline in the number of apartments available for rent, reflecting high demand from renters," the study states.

"Traffic on listings pages for the borough rose by nearly 50%, and the number of apartments favorited by renters doubled in that same timeframe."

New York City has consistently been ranked as the most expensive rental city in the nation since the coronavirus pandemic.

But apartment prices have consistently reached new highs in recent months.

The latest record was set by Manhattan in May: just shy of $4,400 median rent, according to a Douglas Elliman study.

Renters haven't entirely quit Manhattan, however, according to the RentCafe study.

Even with high rents, demand in Manhattan actually increased in June. But it still lagged far behind that seen in The Bronx and Queens.

The RentCafe study found Queens is the 25th-most desired city in the nation to find an apartment. That's better than Manhattan, but it slipped two spots since the month before.

Brooklyn, however, isn't close to the top 30 most in-demand cities. Its rank is 119th out of 150 cities in the study.

Read the full study here.