Where can you find the most affordable rent in southwestern Illinois and St. Louis?
Whether you’re searching for a new place to live or looking for information to help you negotiate your rent, it can be helpful to know what typical housing costs are for your area.
The U.S. Census Bureau provides median gross rent data for 2017 to 2021 for cities, townships and villages across the nation. The bureau reports the national median gross rent in the U.S. is $1,163 per month.
In Illinois as a whole, the median rent is $1,097, the Census Bureau reports. In Missouri, it’s $886.
In southwestern Illinois, at least seven cities have median rent prices under $1,000. In the St. Louis area across the river, at least three cities have median rent under $1,000.
Here’s the median gross rent from 2017 to 2021 by southwestern Illinois and southeastern Missouri locality, according to the U.S. Census Bureau:
Median rent in southwestern Illinois
East St. Louis: $609
Granite City: $716
Highland: $778
Waterloo: $816
Alton: $824
Belleville: $853
Shiloh: $992
Glen Carbon: $1,000
Fairview Heights: $1,019
Edwardsville: $1,058
Swansea: $1,070
O’Fallon: $1,129
Median rent in the St. Louis, Mo., area
Maplewood: $786
St. Louis City: $873
Ferguson: $963
St. Charles: $1,029
St. Peters: $1,078
Maryland Heights: $1,099
Florissant: $1,113
University City: $1,129
Richmond Heights: $1,260
Creve Coeur: $1,323
Brentwood: $1,336
Clayton: $1,490
Tips for negotiating rent
Insurance company Lemonade offers advice on negotiating rent. The first best practice is to understand your rights as a renter.
If you have a fixed-term lease, your landlord cannot raise your rent until the lease ends. If your lease is month-to-month, you must be given 30 days notice of any hike in rent in Illinois. Timelines differ in Missouri and for those living in mobile homes in Illinois.
It can also be helpful to start the negotiating, as it’s likely there will be some back-and-forth discussion before terms are agreed upon. You can start this process a few months before your current lease ends, even if your landlord hasn’t announced increases.
The next step Lemonade recommends is reminding your landlord you’re a responsible tenant or demonstrating that to a potential landlord. If you’re negotiating rent somewhere you already live, you could present your history as a reliable tenant, including information such as a lack of noise complaints against you, on-time payments or a lack of damage to your unit.
One option is checking if your apartment building is hiring receptionists or other employees if you have the time and are looking for work. Your landlord may offer discounted rent to employees.
If you’re ready for the commitment, you could also ask if lower rent is available to tenants who sign longer lease terms.
No matter how you negotiate rent, it’s important to get terms in writing and carefully review them before signing.
