List of best cities to live for renters includes Atlanta at number two

Atlanta tops the list of best cities to live in for renters in 2024.

According to RentCafe.com’s list of “Best Cities to Rent in 2024,” the Georgia city ranks second among 149 other U.S. cities. The number one city on the list is Charleston, South Carolina.

Depending on factors such as air quality, apartment quality, economic strength, natural amenities and traffic, RentCafe Atlanta compiled a list of 150 cities, grouping them into the following categories: cost of living, local economy, and quality of life. Atlanta scored highly in the local economy department thanks to statistics that highlight the economic growth seen by the city’s renters over the past five years.

Renters in the city saw their incomes increase by 44.6% during that period. Atlanta also ranked second in annual job applications, at 472, and had an annual job growth rate of 1%.

No stranger to topping lists, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport received the 2023 Airport Service Quality Award

for the best airport in North America. Additionally, the city has become a hub for companies like Delta Air Lines, UPS, Cox Enterprises and Home Depot. Previously, Hartsfield-Jackson won ASQ awards for best airport by size and region back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.

In January 2024, RentCafe Atlanta ranked Atlanta as the No. 1 city to watch for renters, thanks to a rental activity report compiled by the company that revealed Atlanta attracted the most rental activity on the platform over the past year.

Atlanta has been a center of industry and technology since the end of World War II. Yet it wasn’t until the 1996 Summer Olympics that it quickly became one of the nation’s fastest-growing tech hubs, earning nicknames like “Silicon Valley of the South” and “Silicon Peach.”

Compared to Atlanta, Charleston took the top spot thanks to its strong job growth, low unemployment rate and the fact that nearly a third of its rentals are classified as “newly constructed.” McKinney, Texas, and Scottsdale, Arizona, followed Atlanta in fourth and fifth place. Overall, cities in the South region of the country ranked in 38 of the 50 best cities to rent this year.

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