33 Studio Apartments for rent in Charleston, SC
June 2020 Charleston Rent Report
Welcome to the June 2020 Charleston Rent Report. Charleston rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Charleston rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
June 2020 Charleston Rent Report
Welcome to the June 2020 Charleston Rent Report. Charleston rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Charleston rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
Charleston rents declined slightly over the past month
Charleston rents have declined 0.2% over the past month, but have been relatively flat at 0.3% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Charleston stand at $960 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,143 for a two-bedroom. This is the second straight month that the city has seen rent decreases after an increase in March. Charleston's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 0.4%, as well as the national average of 0.8%.
Rents rising across cities in South Carolina
Throughout the past year, rents have remained steady in the city of Charleston, but other cities across the entire state have seen rents increase. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in South Carolina, 6 of them have seen prices rise. The state as a whole logged rent growth of 0.4% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the state.
- Looking throughout the state, Mount Pleasant is the most expensive of all South Carolina's major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $1,545; of the 10 largest South Carolina cities that we have data for, 4 have seen rents fall year-over-year, with Mount Pleasant experiencing the fastest decline (-4.3%).
- Rock Hill, North Charleston, and Columbia have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (5.1%, 1.7%, and 1.1%, respectively).
Charleston rents more affordable than many large cities nationwide
Rent growth in Charleston has been relatively stable over the past year - some other large cities have seen more substantial increases; in contrast, rents in a few cities have actually declined. Charleston is still more affordable than most large cities across the country.
- Charleston's median two-bedroom rent of $1,143 is below the national average of $1,194. Nationwide, rents have grown by 0.8% over the past year compared to the stagnant growth in Charleston.
- While rents in Charleston remained moderately stable this year, similar cities saw decreases, including San Francisco (-1.0%), Atlanta (-0.8%), Denver (-0.4%); note that median 2BR rents in these cities go for $3,071, $1,188, and $1,351 respectively.
- Renters will find more reasonable prices in Charleston than most large cities. For example, San Francisco has a median 2BR rent of $3,071, which is more than two-and-a-half times the price in Charleston.
For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.
Methodology - Recent Updates:
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Methodology:
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
About Rent Reports:
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.