These 10 cities have the biggest gaps between rents and wages

Rent is going up a lot in the United States. Wages are going up, too, but not as quickly. Real estate listings company StreetEasy used its own data and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to look at how those numbers changed between 2022 and 2023 and published a ranking of the metropolitan areas where the rates of growth were the most out-of-whack (in New York City StreetEasy only looked at rents within city limits).

The data does not capture how quickly rents have increased more recently, but this list based on the ranking is organized in ascending order of the difference between rent increases and wage increases at the time of observation.

Check out which cities ended up in the top 10.

10. Tampa, Florida

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 2.7%. But wages only went up by 0.4%.

The difference is 2.4 percentage points.

9. Memphis, Tennessee

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 1.4%. But wages only went up by -1.1%.

The difference is 2.5 percentage points.

8. Hartford, Connecticut

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 7.1%. But wages only went up by 3.9%.

The difference is 3.2 percentage points.

7. Providence, Rhode Island

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 7.3%. But wages only went up by 3.4%.

The difference is 3.9 percentage points.

6. Cleveland, Ohio

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 5.1%. But wages only went up by 0.8%.

The difference is 4.3 percentage points.

5. Chicago, Illinois

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 5.4%. But wages only went up by -0.1%.

The difference is 5.5 percentage points.

4. Buffalo, New York

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 6.2%. But wages only went up by 0.7%.

The difference is 5.6 percentage points.

3. Cincinnati, Ohio

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 7.3%. But wages only went up by 0.9%.

The difference is 6.4 percentage points.

2. Boston, Massachusetts

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 5.8%. But wages only went up by -1%.

The difference is 6.8 percentage points.

1. New York, New York

Between 2022 and 2023, rents went up 8.6%. But wages only went up by 1.2%.

The difference is 7.4 percentage points.