TOPEKA (KSNT) - The cost of rental units in Topeka has increased every year since 2015.
The latest data from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, released in January, found that a record high 22.4 million renter households, or half of renters nationwide, were spending more than 30% of their income on rent in 2022. The number of affordable units with rents under $600 also dropped to 7.2 million that year, 2.1 million fewer than a decade earlier.
In Topeka, the cost of renting a studio apartment has increased by 45% in the past decade. One-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments also saw the cost of rent increase almost every year for the past decade, according to data from rentdata.org.
In the last year alone, the cost to rent a studio apartment in Topeka increased by $89.
Of the rental categories, one-bedroom apartments saw a 31% rent increase, two-bedroom apartments saw a 31% rent increase, three-bedroom apartments saw a 24% rent increase and four-bedroom apartments saw a 17% rent increase since 2014.
Compared to the national average, the cost to rent in Topeka is considered average. The city is more expensive than 88% of the state, according to rentdata.org.
The most expensive Fair Market Rent (FMR) area in Kansas is in the counties surrounding Kansas City. In Johnson County, the average cost to rent a studio apartment was $984 per month putting Kansas City into a high cost of rent compared to the nation.
Last year, a report from STACKER found Kansas in the top 10 of rent increases in the nation. The report found Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, is one of the most popular rental markets in the country, according to a July 2023 RentCafe analysis.
| Year | Studio | 1-Bedroom | 2-Bedroom | 3-Bedroom | 4-Bedroom |
| 2024 | $777 | $782 | $1,028 | $1,318 | $1,469 |
| 2023 | $688 | $692 | $911 | $1,160 | $1,346 |
| 2022 | $638 | $643 | $844 | $1,075 | $1,275 |
| 2021 | $604 | $608 | $801 | $1,027 | $1,219 |
| 2020 | $590 | $598 | $788 | $1,020 | $1,211 |
| 2019 | $543 | $593 | $785 | $1,033 | $1,229 |
| 2018 | $507 | $594 | $786 | $1,045 | $1,257 |
| 2017 | $482 | $576 | $760 | $1,028 | $1,244 |
| 2016 | $448 | $544 | $727 | $994 | $1,197 |
| 2015 | $417 | $528 | $701 | $990 | $1,202 |
| 2014 | $424 | $537 | $713 | $1,007 | $1,223 |
| 10-Year Percent Change: | 45% | 31% | 31% | 24% | 17% |
About 40% of those facing eviction each year are children — some 2.9 million, according to a study co-authored by Nick Graetz at Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, who said research shows wide-ranging impacts of housing turbulence and eviction on children’s mental health and development.
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