U.S. apartments shrunk in size the past decade, hitting a new low of 887 square feet, on average. According to the latest RentCafe report — in which we looked at changes in apartment size in the 100 largest U.S. cities — new units will keep getting smaller and smaller.
Shrinkflation hasn’t reached rentals in Phoenix metro yet. In fact, apartments here got larger in the last decade — with Mesa seeing the biggest increases and Scottsdale boasting the largest apartments. Apartments under construction in Phoenix will be even bigger than the existing ones.
Apartments in Phoenix measure 863 square feet today – by comparison, the average size of a rental in the city was 782 square feet back in 2013. Renters in this booming tech city now can enjoy an extra 81 square feet of space, which is perfect for a small home office. Even so, the average size of overall apartments in crowded Phoenix – new and old – remains the smallest in the metro.
Meanwhile, Mesa apartments have seen the biggest increase in apartment size — a spectacular 124 square feet, from 814 square feet to 938 square feet over 10 years. But this trend won’t last long: future apartments will shrink to an estimated 860 square feet.
Scottsdale boasts the biggest apartments in the metro, at 945 square feet, but rentals here have increased by only 1% in the last decade. Change is just around the corner: just like in Mesa, new apartments here are projected to shrink by about 32 square feet.
In suburban Phoenix, Tempe offers 939 square feet per apartment. What’s more, Tempe saw the second biggest increase in the metro since 2013: 91 square feet.
In Glendale, on the other hand, apartments have an average size of 875 square feet, which is 88 more than 10 years prior. After Phoenix, Glendale is the second city in the metro where apartments will get larger in the future, reaching more than 910 square feet.
For more details and the full methodology, find the full report here.
