It’s getting more expensive to live in the ‘burbs

Moving out of the city soon? It’s going to cost ya.

America’s suburbs are posting the fastest-rising rents in the country, a sign the recent migration from major cities is starting to look more long-term, the WSJ reports.

• Rents in suburbs climbed 26% from March 2020 through this past July, 8% more than the gain in urban cores, according to data from rentals website Apartment List.
• And it’s not relegated to one specific region. Suburban rent growth was greater than its urban counterpart in 28 of the 33 metro areas studied, per the company.

This shift appears to be happening at the expense of cities. Suburbs nationwide gained population last year, while core counties in large metro areas collectively lost more than 800,000 movers, according to US census data. The population of St. Charles, Missouri, for example, grew nearly 1% between 2020 and 2022, while the city of St. Louis lost about 5% of its residents over the same period.