Overview of Findings
Apartment List has released Lexington’s results from the third annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. This survey, which drew on responses from over 45,000 renters, provides insight on what states and cities must do to meet the needs of 111 million American renters nationwide.
"Lexington renters expressed general dissatisfaction with the city overall," according to Apartment List. "Despite giving the city As and Bs in all categories, renters gave the city a C grade for overall satisfaction."
Key findings in Lexington include the following:
- Lexington renters gave their city a C overall.
- The highest-rated categories for Lexington were jobs and career opportunities, quality of local schools, public transit and pet-friendliness, which all received A+ grades.
- The areas of concern to Lexington renters are weather and safety and low crime rate, which both received B grades.
- Lexington earned similar scores to Louisville, the other major city in Kentucky. Lexington did relatively well in individual categories compared to Louisville, but renters in both cities expressed overall dissatisfaction.
- Lexington did relatively poorly compared to other Southern cities as well, including Charlotte, NC (A-), Nashville, TN (A-) and Atlanta, GA (B).
- Lexington did relatively poorly compared to other cities nationwide, including Austin, TX (A-), Seattle, WA (B+) and Denver, CO (B+).
- The top rated cities nationwide for renter satisfaction include Scottsdale, AZ, Irvine, CA, Boulder, CO and Ann Arbor, MI. The lowest rated cities include Tallahassee, FL, Stockton, CA, Dayton, OH, Detroit, MI and Newark, NJ.
Renters say:
- "The community is very safe with a lot of green space. But as it is growing, there are more problems with traffic and rising housing costs." – Laura H.
- "I love the closeness of my city but there’s no night life or opportunity for success." – Adrienne R.W.
- "I love the diversity and atmosphere in Lexington. There are so many things to take part in and so many people to meet. Lexington is thriving and alive and I love it." – Sarah D.
- "I wish there was more of a centralized location for shops, restaurants and night life. They are all spread out, which makes it hard to walk from one to another." – Amanda D.
For more information on the survey methodology and findings or to speak to one of our researchers, please contact our team at rentonomics@apartmentlist.com.
