Boise’s Ridiculous Rent Prices Are Sending Residents Fleeing to These 11 Cities

According to the latest data from ApartmentList.com, rent in Boise has dropped 6.4% since last fall. While that sounds like good news, some people have not seen that trend at their apartment complex. 

ApartmentList.com reports that the median rent price in Boise in October 2023 is $1,293. Not only is that down from 6.4% from last year, it’s also down .8% from September. Their methodology shows that the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,076 and a two-bedroom apartment is $1,270. That puts us as the #67 most expensive large city in the country. For comparison, Irvine, California is the most expensive with a median rent of $3,140. Cleveland, Ohio is the cheapest at $759. (Sure, rent similar to what we were paying in Boise in 2010 sounds appealing…but we have family in Ohio. You don’t want to live there. Just trust us.) 

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The website shared an infographic showing that rent has been slowly dropping since April. Those past reports found their way into the Boise sub-Reddit and they have people scratching their heads. User “bbpsword” said theirs rose by $100. “TastesLikeHoneyNut” had just signed a new lease that raised their rent by $110, but chose to stay at the same place because it’s still relatively cheap compared to other options. “TwinMomma23” chose to move this year when her landlord increased rent by $435.

Our lease was up at an apartment complex in Southeast Boise at the end of September and we were crossing our fingers and toes that maybe we’d be presented with a decrease based on the published reports. Nope. Ours went up by $150. Like “TastesLikeHoneyNut,” we chose to stay because we’re not at a point where we feel like we can comfortably afford a house the way Boise’s housing market is. Even with the $150 raise, it is still considerably cheaper than the complex we moved out of last year that wanted us to move into a renovated unit for 75% more than what we were paying.

Boise Renters Are Over It, Looking to Move to Other Cities

In addition for tracking rent trends, ApartmentList.com also monitors searches of where people are looking to move. Heading into 2023, these were cities outside of Boise that renters were most interested in. Not all of them have lower rent prices than Boise, but they may offer something that Boise residents feel like they’re not getting here.