Living in Portland Just Got Less Expensive Compared to Other Cities

Sure, we're in a housing crisis. But contrary to what residents may be feeling about rising rents, a new report shows that rents in Portland have been going down—and have been basically flat for a year.

Apartment rental site Zumper just released its April 2017 National Rent Report, which lists Portland as the 19th most expensive city in the U.S.—two spots down from last month.

The report lists the median monthly rent of a one-bedroom apartment in Portland as $1,340, a 1.5 percent decrease from last month. The median rent of a two-bedroom was listed as $1,600, with an increase of .6 percent from last month.

The year-over-year stats are equally telling—showing effectively no upward movement since last year. A one bedroom apartment costs 0.8 percent more, but a two-bedroom costs 0.6 percent less.

This should come as welcome news in a year that hasn't been full of it—especially since Portland has the nation's fastest growing GDP.

Reports from Zumper have been severely criticized. But these latest figures match recent data from other sources—including the real-estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap—that show Portland rents are softening.

Among other cities covered by the report, it should come as no surprise that the most expensive is San Francisco, with a one-bedroom apartment costing $3,320/month. Following SF is New York City, with a one-bedroom apartment costing $2,940/month.

So who shot up ahead of us in rental costs this month? Philadelphia and Minneapolis. So you might as well stow that fat bike, if you thought you could escape gentrification by fleeing to the snow-packed ice barrens of the milk states and rust belt.

But Pittsburgh, putative Portland of the future, is still cheap and dropping—at $1,040 a month rent for a one-bedroom, just below Austin's $1,050.

Anyway, here's the top 20.

1. San Francisco, Calif.
2. New York City, N.Y.
3. San Jose, Calif.
4. Boston, Mass.
5. Oakland, Calif.
6. Los Angeles, Calif.
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Seattle, Wash.
9. Miami, Fla.
10. Honolulu, Hawaii
11. Chicago, Ill.
12. San Diego, Calif.
13. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
14. Providence, R.I.
15. Philadelphia, Pa.
16. New Orleans, La.
17. Long Beach, Calif.
18. Minneapolis, Minn.
19. Portland, Ore.
20. Atlanta, Ga.