Where to find Median rents for state/metro?

[John K.]

Hi,

I am trying to make a "benchmark" of various states and metro areas with the Price - to - Rent Ratio.

It is quite easy to find median or average house prices for each state or even metro (for example using in trulia), but I am having hard times to find such statistics about median or average rents.

Has anybody done similar research? Are there some good websites with rental statistics? Or do I have to wait for the results of the 2010 Census. :D

[Curtis Williams]

Hey John,

Oh the joy of searching for rent averages... The best way I found to set a basis was to run through local craigslist/thrifty nickel ads to see what the rates were on average and to look up the Section 8 rent tables for the city I was researching.

You can find these Section 8 tables on the HUD website. They show "rent reasonable" pricing and you can pretty much figure that Section 8 is paying around 25% above open market.