EMPORIA (KSNT) - The cost of rental units in Lyon County has been steadily increasing since 2014. Here's how much.
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 Lyon County, the cost of renting a studio apartment has increased by 40% 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 $106.
Of the rental categories, one-bedroom apartments saw a 34% rent increase, two-bedroom apartments saw a 32% rent increase, three-bedroom apartments saw a 32% rent increase and four-bedroom apartments saw a 40% rent increase since 2014.
Compared to the national average, the cost to rent in Lyon County is considered low. The county is less expensive than 52% 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 | $633 | $711 | $934 | $1,254 | $1,421 |
| 2023 | $527 | $599 | $788 | $1,059 | $1,218 |
| 2022 | $495 | $566 | $745 | $996 | $1,169 |
| 2021 | $474 | $545 | $718 | $988 | $1,161 |
| 2020 | $480 | $542 | $714 | $1,014 | $1,130 |
| 2019 | $440 | $508 | $672 | $969 | $987 |
| 2018 | $446 | $524 | $697 | $946 | $949 |
| 2017 | $432 | $512 | $681 | $935 | $939 |
| 2016 | $406 | $492 | $658 | $899 | $902 |
| 2015 | $377 | $469 | $634 | $857 | $861 |
| 2014 | $377 | $468 | $633 | $856 | $859 |
| 10-year Percent change: | 40% | 34% | 32% | 32% | 40% |
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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