SLC's new apartments are almost as tiny as Manhattan's
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Salt Lake's apartments are getting as small as units in much larger, denser cities.
Why it matters: Apartments now are about 5% smaller than they were a decade ago, per an analysis by RentCafe — even though rents have risen sharply.
Driving the news: Apartments built in SLC in the past 10 years have averaged 750 square feet — the ninth smallest in the nation.
Zoom out: That's smaller than the averages in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and LA.
- It's only 5 square feet larger than the average new apartment in D.C. and 12 square feet larger than in Manhattan. That's about enough room for a single armchair.
Flashback: Ten years ago, the average in SLC was 37 square feet larger than it is now.
Yes, but: Unlike Manhattan, Salt Lake has had room to grow its housing stock as industrial areas transform into condos and apartments.
Between the lines: Developers have focused overwhelmingly on units with two or fewer bedrooms as Salt Lake pushes for more affordable housing.
- "Affordable" means that someone making 80% of the area median income can live there without spending more than 30% of their pay on housing.
By the numbers: Of nearly 7,900 "affordable" units the city has subsidized since 2014, fewer than 700 are "family-sized" — i.e., three or more bedrooms, per city records.
- Fewer than 600 are "deeply affordable" — that is, someone making less than 30% of the median income can afford to live there. Of those, only 21 had at least three bedrooms.
- Meanwhile, census data shows the total number of rental units with three or more bedrooms — regardless of affordability — has declined since 2014, while one-bedroom and studio rentals overwhelmingly account for the city's apartment growth.
The bottom line: It's not getting easier to be a family who rents in SLC.
How it works: Rent Cafe looked at data from the 100 U.S. cities with the largest stocks of apartments.
The big picture: Nationwide, newly built apartments have grown slightly larger in recent years, averaging 908 square feet in 2024 compared with 891 in 2022, the report found.