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Booming North Dallas neighbor named best U.S. city for renters in 2025

McKinney is booming.

Facebook/Visit McKinney

A Dallas-area city is the place to be for renters: According to a report from apartment search website RentCafe, McKinney has earned the title as the No. 1 best U.S. city for renters in 2025.

Called the "Best Cities for Renters to Live in 2025," the report compares 150 U.S. cities based on 20 factors including quality of life, local economy, and cost of living and housing opportunities. Cities were chosen only if they had an "apartment stock" consisting of a minimum 10,000 units; any cities with lower apartment stocks were excluded.

McKinney dethroned Charleston, South Carolina, which had held the top spot for the last two years and has since slumped into the No. 7 spot for 2025. McKinney climbed three spots from 2024, when it came in as the fourth best city.

Rounding out the top five best U.S. cities for renters this year are Sarasota, Florida (No. 2), Atlanta, Georgia (No. 3), Austin (No. 4), and Huntsville, Alabama (No. 5).

McKinney received high praise for its affordability and quality of life; the report found that the city's cost of living is 2.5 percent lower than the national average. McKinney's nationally recognized low cost of living earned it the top spot in a separate Motley Fool Money report of the most affordable U.S. cities earlier in 2025.

RentCafe adds that McKinney's job growth, its excellent school and park systems, and its large share of luxury apartments in desirable locations make it "an ideal choice for renters seeking a small-town atmosphere without sacrificing the perks of a larger urban center."

live music mckinney McKinney is a Texas Music Friendly Community. Photo courtesy of Visit McKinney

"Altogether, McKinney strikes the perfect balance between affordability and suburban comfort, thereby earning its place as the best city for renters in 2025," the report's author wrote.

The average size of a McKinney apartment spans 948 square feet, which the report says is the second-largest average apartment size in Texas. San Marcos, a city between Austin and San Antonio, outranks McKinney in that category with an average apartment size of 988 square feet.

Other top Dallas-Fort Worth cities for renters
Most Dallas-Fort Worth cities made slight improvements in the rankings since last year.

After flopping out of the top five in 2024, Plano moved up six spots and is now the 11th best U.S. city for renters in 2025. But its high cost of living — nearly 10 percent higher than the national average — means Plano still has work to do to regain a top spot among the best places for renters to live.

Denton moved up five spots into No. 33 after previously ranking as 38th a year ago. Fort Worth now claims the No. 38 spot in a big jump from its former rank of No. 53 in 2024.

Dallas remains as the 57th best city for renters for the second consecutive year.

Elsewhere in Texas
Austin's northern suburb Round Rock remained in the top 10 this year, coming in as the 8th best city for renters.

Here's how other Texas cities stacked up among the top 100 in RentCafe's report:

No. 24 – Conroe (up from No. 31 last year)
No. 27 – San Marcos (up from No. 55 last year)
No. 44 – San Antonio (up from No. 65 last year)
No. 58 – Lubbock (unchanged from 2024)
No. 63 – Midland (down from No. 52 last year)
No. 69 – Amarillo (up from No. 85 last year)
No. 70 – Houston (up from No. 71 last year)
No. 88 – Waco (up from No. 91 last year)

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living single

Dallas lands among 10 most affordable U.S. metros for living alone

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In DFW, renters can afford to live solo.

Not everyone is cut out for living with roommates, but finding an affordable place to live alone can be tricky. Luckily, Dallas-Fort Worth sits among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for living by yourself, according to a new report.

Analysts at Apartments.com discovered North Texas renters spend the seventh lowest share of their monthly income on single-bedroom rent out of the 50 biggest metros in the U.S.

The study used a 30 percent "common budgeting guideline" to calculate the share of median renter household income spent on one-bedroom asking rents across the 50 largest U.S. metros, and determined renters can only afford to live alone in 24 of the 50 metros without crossing the 30 percent threshold.

The median annual income of a DFW renter household is $63,172, and the findings show the typical asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment comes out to $1,348 per month. The study determined single renters spend 25.6 percent of their monthly income on rent based on the budgeting suggestion.

Texas' favorable rental market also extends outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: Austin surprised as the No. 1 most affordable metro for living alone, and San Antonio appeared among the top 10.

Austin renters spend the smallest share of their income on single-bedroom apartment rent, at 23.1 percent. That's based on a median renter household income of $70,008 and a $1,348 monthly one-bedroom asking rent price.

Dwindling rent prices and the prevalence of major tech employers are also attracting new renters, and the city has an 11.6 percent apartment vacancy rate.

"The average rent in Austin has decreased year over year, and construction of new housing increased by 30 percent over the past decade," the report's author wrote. "Tax incentives in Texas draw large tech corporations, like Google and Apple, to the Austin area, which has increased average wages, added more jobs to the local economy, and attracted renters in the process."

San Antonio ranked right above DFW in sixth place nationwide with solo renters spending 25.4 percent of their monthly income on single-bedroom rent, coincidentally the same share as single renters living in Raleigh, North Carolina and Salt Lake City, Utah.

This is the income and one-bedroom rent data in San Antonio:

$51,029 – median renter household income
$1,082 – one-bedroom monthly asking rent

A separate Apartments.com survey found 39 percent of U.S. adults would never feel comfortable living with a roommate, and 16 percent of renters would rather pay more in rent to live alone than consider living with a roommate.

"Factors contributing to lower rents may include recent high levels of construction, rising vacancy rates as renter demand catches up to supply, and fewer regulations, such as flexible zoning and lower development costs compared to other parts of the country," the report said. "Living alone has become a non-negotiable for many renters, and some renters are willing to make tradeoffs to afford this lifestyle."

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for living alone are:

No. 1 – Austin
No. 2 – Oklahoma City
No. 3 – Phoenix
No. 4 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 5 – Salt Lake City, Utah
No. 6 – San Antonio
No. 7 – Dallas-Fort Worth
No. 8 – Denver
No. 9 – Portland, Oregon
No. 10 – Columbus, Ohio

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