Newly Completed Apartments have Declined in Size
- The average and median square footage of new apartment units in the U.S. has decreased each year since 2020. In 2024, the average size of a new completed apartment was 1,006 square feet, while the median size was 1,043 square feet. For perspective, this is the smallest average and median size of apartments for the last 25 years of available data.
Largest New Apartments Found in the Southeastern U.S.
- Of the 10 cities in the U.S. with the largest new apartments by average square footage in February 2025, nine of them were located in Southeastern states.
- Tallahassee, FL had the largest average new apartment size at 1,130 square feet, followed by Gainesville, FL with an average of 1,122 square feet, and Baton Rouge, LA with an average of 1,055 square feet.
The Average Monthly Rent for All Apartments in the U.S.
- Utilizing data from Apartments.com, the heatmap below outlines the average rent for all apartments in the U.S. by state as of 7/2/2025. For reference, average rent for all apartments increased 0.8% year-over-year in the U.S.
- The states with the highest average rent per month were: New York at $2,967, followed by Massachusetts at $2,553 and District of Columbia at $2,307.
- The states with the lowest average rent per month were: Oklahoma at $902, followed by West Virginia at $927 and Arkansas at $943.
Comparison of Average Rent vs. Average Square Footage
- There was a slight negative trend when comparing the average rent vs. the average square footage for apartments, as of 7/2/2025. This means, counter to expectations, rent prices seem to decrease as square footage increases.
- One reason for this is that areas with dense urban populations, such as New York and Hawaii, have apartments that are much smaller and more expensive than the rest of the country due to space constraints and high demand.
- Similar to the second chart above, many of the states in the Southeast were cheaper and more spacious compared to other regions of the U.S.
