Seattle Rents Still Among America's Priciest: Report

SEATTLE — Renters in Seattle need to earn a lot more live comfortably than those in many other major cities, but a handful of cities on both coasts are even pricier.

Finance firm SmartAsset this week released its eighth annual analysis of incomes needed to afford rent in America's 25 largest cities. Seattle again landed among the top 10 priciest, ranking 8th on the list, unchanged from last year.

SmartAsset consulted real estate data from Zumper to calculate average prices for one and two-bedroom rentals between October 2021 and September. Using federal metrics, which consider anyone spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent to be cost-burdened, researchers calculated the annual salaries needed to live comfortably in each city at 28 percent.

In the Emerald City, SmartAsset found the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom was $1,897 this year, requiring an annual income of $81,289 to avoid cost burdens. Two bedrooms average a little more than $2,600, requiring yearly earnings of $111,611.

Seattle is one of just eight cities on the list with six-figure salaries needed to live comfortably in a two-bedroom, but several others are even costlier. SmartAsset also notes that Seattle is one of the few places where median salaries come close to matching rent-to-income ratios.

"Seattle, Washington renters can expect approximately $31,251 of their income to go to a two-bedroom apartment (roughly $2,604 per month) meaning they will need to earn at least $111,600 to afford this size apartment," researchers wrote. "It’s important to note that the median household income in Seattle is just $830 less than the income needed and is the lowest difference between the two figures in the top 10."

The top six cities on the list saw average rent prices above $3,000 for two bedrooms this year, up from just one last year. San Francisco remained at the top of this year's list, just ahead of New York City. While the Big Apple is more expensive for single-bedroom rentals, San Francisco is pricier for two-bedrooms, which require annual earnings above $170,000 to live comfortably, the report found.

Just ahead of Seattle on the list was San Diego, and rounding out the top 10 were Denver and Chicago.

Here are 10 cities with the highest incomes needed for rent:

>> Check out the full report from SmartAsset here.