LIFE

How much space $1,500 buys in Indy vs. New York

Allison Carter
allison.carter@indystar.com
Katie Jackson and Gonzalo Castro's kitchen inside their Circa apartment in Downtown Indianapolis on July 7, 2016.

One big plus for living in Indy is its low cost of living. Sure, we might not have Central Park, Broadway or a developed mass transit system, but we do have cheap real estate.

A new study from apartment leasing website RentCafe confirmed that $1,500 goes a long way in Indianapolis, especially when compared to other cities. We were the No. 3 major city when it comes to space for your buck, right after Memphis and Oklahoma City.

Of course, most people in Indy don't spend $1,500 a month on rent. The average rent was less than half that, $738, as of 2015. But as a way of comparing how far your dollar goes, it gets the job done.

RentCafe conducted the study by taking average apartment size divided by average rent to get an average price per square foot.

Which Indiana cities have the highest apartment rents?

In Indy, $1,500 of rent would get you a 1,724 square foot pad. That's pretty big for an apartment. Not as big as an average new construction home (2,392 square feet as of 2010), but you'd have plenty of room to stretch out.

Not so if you live in the dead-last city on the list. Unsurprisingly, it's New York City. $1,500 will net you just 271 square feet, which is smaller than some Indy walk-in closets.

Also on the expensive end of the scale were San Francisco and Boston, both dealing with big tech booms and constrained space.

Who can afford to live in a new Downtown apartment?

See the full list of cities and their cost per square foot here.

Allison Carter is an engagement producer at IndyStar whose apartment is way smaller than this. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonLCarter