Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. Which big U.S. cities have the highest rent?

Chart 1 of 1 · Housing

Which big U.S. cities have the highest rent?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

Of the 332 U.S. cities with 100,000 people or more, median rent including utilities was highest in San Mateo, CA, $3,077 a month, followed by Sunnyvale, CA ($3,039) and Santa Clara, CA ($3,016), in the Census Bureau's 5-year survey ending in 2024. It was lowest in Toledo, OH, $901; the U.S. median was $1,413. Search any city. Averaged over five years, these figures trail the latest rent increases, and each has a margin of error.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (Public domain (U.S. government work). This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024

Open the chart and its numbers

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