Arlington Ranks In Top 10 Of Best Cities For Renters In U.S.

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington made a list of best cities for renters, although it didn't fare well in the cost of living and housing category when compared to others.

To determine the best cities for renters, apartment data resource RentCafe looked at 140 cities using 20 metrics. The metrics represented three categories: cost of living, local economy and quality of life.

Arlington ranked 10th among the top 50 U.S. cities for renters. The county's ranking was helped by the local economy category, with 1.6 percent job growth and a 2.9 percent unemployment rate, which was the second lowest among the cities.

It also has a 76.3 percent share of highly educated residents and average $97,874 renter income, which is the highest in the nation. Arlington ranked third among cities in the local economy category alone.

In the quality of life category, Arlington ranked 4th. RentCafe estimated Arlington has 85.2 percent of apartments in top locations, estimated 43.8 percent share of car users, a natural amenity rank of two and 93.9 percent share of good air quality days. However, it was on the higher end of cities for commuting delays, as it had an average delay of 42 hours per car commuter annually.

The county fared the worst in the housing and cost of living category, ranking 109th. The metric with the most weight in this category was the cost of living index, which is 40.8 percent for Arlington. By comparison, the top-ranked Charleston, South Carolina had a cost of living index of −2.1 percent.

In the cost of living and housing category, Arlington has an estimated 94.4 percent occupancy rate, 12.7 percent share of new apartments, 62.4 percent share of high-end apartments, 864-square-foot average apartment size and $645 additional cost for another bedroom.

Charleston, South Carolina was the top-ranked city for renters, followed by Plano, Texas; Scottsdale, Arizona; Atlanta, Georgia; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Arlington's neighbor Alexandria ranked 35th.