Seattle Worst Big City In U.S. For Renters, Ranking Says

SEATTLE, WA — Almost everyone knows that rents are sky-high in Seattle, but all that money is apparently not buying renters a high quality of life.

That's according to a new ranking of the best and worst cities for renters in the U.S. by the personal finance site WalletHub. Seattle came in No. 159 on the list, which is the lowest ranking for a city with a population above 700,000 people — although Indianapolis, Boston, and Oakland were not far behind.

Seattle ranked poorly due to the high cost of rent (No. 168 overall, just slightly better than Los Angeles and San Diego), but also because of the quality of life renters get for the price. Seattle came in No. 96 on that measure, worse than cities like Minneapolis, Boston, and Atlanta.

WalletHub looked at a number of factors to come up with the quality-of-life score, and some likely weighed against Seattle: weather, driver friendliness, and the strength of bed-bug laws — landlords are required to control infestations, except in single-family homes and when the tenant caused the infestation.

Then there are those high rents. As of June, the average rent in Seattle was $1,968 per month, according to RENTCafé.

But Seattle wasn't even the worst city in Washington for renters. That honor went to Tacoma, which came in No. 168 on the list. Spokane ranked the highest on the list at No. 113.