Here Are the Best Places to Upsize for Less Than $100

East Lansing is the most affordable alternative in the Lansing metro area. Here, upsizing would cost renters about $93 per month, or the equivalent of 9 pizzas. 

Here Are the Best Places to Upsize for Less Than $100

• The average American renter could make the switch to an apartment with an extra bedroom for almost $200 per month.
• People renting in 83 cities – mostly suburbs – could enjoy an additional bedroom for less than $100 each month, which is the equivalent of about nine pizzas.
• Renters in Portsmouth, VA, could upsize to an extra bedroom by paying only $25 per month, or about two and a half pizzas.
• Memphis, TN, is the only major city where renters could live in an apartment with an additional bedroom for less than $100 each month.

Working and living in the same place is no longer just a temporary arrangement for millions of Americans. In fact, more than half of the job holders in the U.S. have the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week. As a consequence, the need for ample living spaces has intensified even more. Granted, it doesn’t help that the total apartment size has decreased over the past decade.

Space matters – a lot more than you think – whether you’re working from home five days a week or in a hybrid system. For apartment-dwellers who want more space, one simple solution is to upsize on the cheap. That may not be an easy thing to accomplish in some cities – but do not worry, we found plenty of places where all you’d have to do is give up a couple of pizzas each month for an extra bedroom.

The average American renter could make the switch to an apartment with an extra bedroom for $200 per month

In this super-competitive apartment market, the cost of an extra bedroom often comes at a premium. We feel your pain, that’s why we wanted to help by finding those places where you can get one extra bedroom for a reasonable amount of money (or by just giving up one of your favorite comfort foods: pizza). So, we looked at 728 U.S. cities and determined that, on average, it costs $199 extra per month to upgrade to an apartment with an additional bedroom. We then ranked the cities based on the lowest amount necessary to upgrade. Of these, in 83 locations – mostly suburbs – you could upsize for less than $100 per month. Here they are:

To be more specific, renters looking to upsize from a studio to a larger rental where the living room doesn’t double as a bedroom could do so just by paying an extra $71 per month.

Furthermore, Americans living in one-bedroom apartments could make the move to a two-bedroom rental for an average extra cost of $236 per month. Meanwhile, those who already live in a two-bedroom apartment but need more space would need to take $294 per month, on average, out of their pockets.

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Table with 4 columns and 84 rows. Currently displaying rows 1 to 20.

	City	Metro	Average Monthly Cost for 1 Extra Bedroom	Number of Pizzas to Give Up per Month
1	Portsmouth, VA	Virginia Beach, VA	$25 $25 $25
2	Augusta, GA	Augusta, GA	$29 $29 $29
3	Williamsburg, VA	Virginia Beach, VA	$31 $31 $31
4	Springdale, AR	Fayetteville, AR	$36 $36 $36
5	Noblesville, IN	Indianapolis, IN	$36 $36 $36
6	Gastonia, NC	Charlotte, NC	$42 $42 $42
7	Orange Park, FL	Jacksonville, FL	$42 $42 $42
8	Conway, AR	Little Rock, AR	$43 $43 $43
9	Midwest City, OK	Oklahoma City, OK	$43 $43 $43
10	High Point, NC	Greensboro, NC	$44 $44 $44
11	Gainesville, GA	Atlanta, GA	$45 $45 $45
12	Chesapeake, VA	Virginia Beach, VA	$46 $46 $46
13	Kentwood, MI	Grand Rapids, MI	$46 $46 $46
14	Fairfield, OH	Cincinnati, OH	$46 $46 $46
15	Greenwood, IN	Indianapolis, IN	$47 $47 $47
16	Merrillville, IN	Chicago, IL	$48 $48 $48
17	Des Moines, IA	Des Moines, IA	$49 $49 $49
18	McAllen, TX	McAllen, TX	$52 $52 $52
19	Euclid, OH	Cleveland, OH	$53 $53 $53
20	Bentonville, AR	Fayetteville, AR	$54 $54 $54