What’s the best city in the Midwest in which to rent an apartment? That’s pretty subjective, but a Feb. 10 report from Living Cozy puts Minneapolis at the top of the list.
Living Cozy looked at the average rent for a two-bedroom property in a city, the average wage there and the cost of living. It also considered the amount of green space and parks in cities and looked at whether the city had any rent-control legislation that could protect tenants.
When looking at those factors, Living Cozy ranked Minneapolis as the third-best city in which to rent in the United States and the best city in the Midwest. And if you’re looking for other Midwest cities on the top-10 list? Don’t bother. Minneapolis was the only one that made Cozy Living’s list.

What gave Minneapolis the edge? First, apartment rents here are fairly affordable compared to other cities in the top 10, with Cozy Living reporting that the average monthly two-bedroom rent here stood at $2,091, far less than what renters pay in other top-10 cities such as San Francisco ($5,209 a month on average); Washington, D.C. ($3,658); and San Jose, California ($3,204).
Minneapolis also fared well when it came to green space. According to Cozy Living, 98 percent of Minneapolis residents live within a 10-minute walk from a park. And the city’s average monthly salary after taxes of $4,566.79 means that those two-bedroom apartment rents are on the more affordable side.
The jobs market in Minneapolis is solid, too, with Living Cozy reporting that there are an average of 53.46 job postings per 1,000 people.
The top two cities in which to rent, according to Living Cozy? Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
And if you’re looking for cheaper rent? The average two-bedroom monthly rent in Tulsa, Oklahoma, came in at $895, lowest in the country, according to Living Cozy.
Several Midwest cities made the lowest monthly rent list, including Memphis, with an average two-bedroom monthly rent of $1,042; Omaha, Nebraska, with an average monthly rent of $1,166 for a two-bedroom apartment; and Louisville, Kentucky, where two-bedroom rents average $1,197.