JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville is the 14th most financially stressful U.S. city for renters to move to, according to a new analysis from Freedom Debt Relief.
The city ranked higher than several major cities, including Las Vegas, Nashville and Dallas.
Freedom Debt Relief analyzed 30 major cities in the United States, ranking them on a financial stress scale calculated by estimating the upfront cost of moving compared to the local median renter income.
The findings show that movers spend, on average, nearly $4,500 to get into a one-bedroom rental in Jacksonville — $475 more than the average monthly renter income. Using the same scale, that makes the city just slightly cheaper to move to than San Francisco.
Still, a local realtor says Jacksonville remains very affordable.
“Jacksonville is a city that’s on the move and is really growing, and growth is expensive,” said Lisa Barton, a broker associate with Keller Williams Realty who has been a realtor for almost 20 years.
Barton said people often underestimate the cost of moving to Jacksonville.
“There’s a perception that if you’re moving to the south, prices are cheaper,” she said. “We often, as realtors, see people move here and they have a little bit of sticker shock because they think where they’re leaving is much more expensive, and then they get here and it’s not as cheap as they think it’s going to be.”
Still, Barton said that, all things considered, Jacksonville is a lot cheaper than other larger cities, even if it costs a lot to get here. She said the average rent is about $1,600 a month, which she said is 16% below average.
“There were a couple years, especially during COVID, when rent prices … just kept going up and up and up, and it didn’t seem like there was an end. The rent prices have really stabilized here now,” Barton said.
“Moving is just really expensive, whether you’re moving down the street or across the country,” she added.
Barton also said Jacksonville is a whole lot cheaper than South Florida, and the lifestyle can be just as fabulous.
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