Based on data from the nationwide Zillow real estate website, the average cost of a rental property in the U.S. has now exceeded $2,000 per month (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
LOS ANGELES – The average cost of a rental property in Utah jumped 36.46 percent since 2020, but the Beehive State barely made the Top Ten list when it comes to the cost of renting a home.
Analysis by luxury real estate experts in Los Feliz, an ultra-chic section of Los Angeles, put Utah as the ninth most expensive state in which to rent a home, including town houses, condominiums, apartments and single family homes.
The eight states even more expensive than Utah are, in order, Florida with rental prices up by nearly 46 percent; Colorado, up by 45 percent; Montana, up by more than 42 percent; Idaho, up by 40 percent; Tennessee, up by 38 percent; Georgia, up by 38 percent; Arizona, up by 37 percent; and New Hampshire, up by 37 percent.
Rounding out the Top Ten list of states after Utah is New Mexico with 36.25 percent jump in home rental prices.
To compile that listing, the analysts in Los Feliz compared average statewide rental prices in March 2020 to that of rental prices in March of 2023.
In terms of dollars and cents, the average rent for a home in Utah jumped from $1,530 per month in 2020 to $2,087 per month three years later.
The comparative study was commissioned by RubyHome, a Los Angeles real estate firm, using data from the nationwide Zillow real estate website.
The statewide data was calculated by adding prices in all the metro areas in each state and averaging the total.
All of the states listed in the Top Ten study exceeded the national average rental price, which reached $2,018 in March 2023, a 26.7 percent increase from 2020.
Not surprisingly, the conclusion of the RubyHome study was that rent prices are too high and are likely to continue to rise as time goes on – as if that were news to any would-be renter in Utah.
According to data from the 2020 Census, most U.S. homeowners are middle-aged or older, with only 10% under the age of 35 and more than 70% over the age of 45.
So the median age of U.S. homeowners is around 56 years old.
By contrast, the median age of U.S. renters is 39. Over half of renters are under 45, and 34% are 35 or younger.
While the majority of U.S. renters have a college education, most of them survive on an income less than the national average of $67,500.
Financial advisors recommend that renters commit no more than 30 percent of their income to housing costs. Given the rising prices of rental properties, the average renter would need to earn roughly $6,700 a month or $80,720 annually to afford a national average property ($2,018 per month in 2023), much less a rental in Utah or other Top Ten most expensive states.
RubyHome is based in Los Feliz, one of the most highly sought-after neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
The homes in Los Feliz showcase impressive architectural styles. They include Spanish Colonial Revival residences dating back to the early 19th century, as well as world-renowned modern homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and other notable architects.