RentCafe: What $1,500 monthly rent gets in Nassau, Suffolk
A $1,500 monthly rent only goes half as far in parts of Long Island compared to the national average, data shows. Credit: Getty Images/Feverpitched
For $1,500 a month, renters in Wichita, Kansas, can claim an average of 1,329 square feet of living space, while renters in Glen Cove can only afford an apartment approximately one-third of that size, a recent RentCafe study showed.
According to RentCafe, a monthly rent payment of $1,500 would cover 413 square feet in Glen Cove, 466 square feet in Hempstead and 361 square feet in Mineola. The same rent payment would pay for a 517-square-foot apartment in West Babylon, or a 505-square-foot apartment in Patchogue.
In Long Island City, data showed a renter on the same budget could afford a 220-square-foot space. Nationally, $1,500 is enough to rent a 715-square-foot apartment.
Based on data from sister company Yardi Matrix, apartment search website RentCafe.com used the average rent price and apartment size in 200 geographic areas to calculate price per square foot. The multifamily housing study included only properties with 50 or more units, and included only select Long Island communities.
Though she is not surprised by the notion that space is more affordable in Kansas than it is on Long island, Douglas Elliman agent Wendy Sanders said much of the local housing market includes older buildings with fewer than 50 units. Long Island buildings with enough units to qualify for the study are likely newer, she said, and might include amenities like central air and in-unit laundry machines.
"At this point, in our buildings that size, you’re lucky if you can get a studio at $3,000 a month," said Sanders, who specializes in rentals in the Great Neck area.
Because there is no standardized tracking system for rental market data, Sanders said, to compare Long Island to other localities is "comparing an apple to an orange." Much of Long Island’s rental stock consists of apartments in smaller buildings or in private homes, she noted.
"There’s no way for that data to be accurate," Sanders said. "There’s no way to even assess how far off we are."
The year-over-year change in apartment rental price per square foot in the Long Island communities included in the study was statistically insignificant, said Doug Ressler, a business intelligence manager for Yardi Matrix.
Last year, a RentCafe study using the same methodology showed that $1,500 in monthly rent could pay for 416 square feet in Glen Cove, 479 square feet in Hempstead and 365 square feet in Mineola. In West Babylon, data showed, that payment would cover 529 square feet; in Patchogue, it would buy 518 square feet.
And just as last year, the rental price point remains lower in the South and Midwest regions of the United States, Ressler said.
"The land is cheaper, you know, the permitting costs, things like that," he said. "And property taxes."
Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.
