After graduating from Purdue University a few years ago, Shannell Parks moved to an apartment in Indianapolis.
“I moved to Indy because I was tired of living in a college town and wanted to experience something new,” said Parks. “My apartment here in Indy is okay. I only plan on living here for another couple of years.”
As a renter, Parks represents a large population that is often overlooked. Apartment List recently surveyed renters to understand this demographic better.
“The U.S. renting population is at its highest level in more than 20 years. This was spurred in large part by the Great Recession of 2007-2009,” explained Max Rosett, data scientist for Apartment List. “We felt most studies focus on homeowners, despite the fact that more than a third of Americans rent.”
Apartment List surveyed 18,000 renters about what is most important to them when making key location and housing decisions. The Renter Confidence Survey, a report card of sorts, evaluates cities nationwide across multiple metrics to assess renter satisfaction.
Overall, Indianapolis renters give the Circle City a passing grade of C+. This puts Indianapolis slightly below average for cities nationwide. The Indianapolis economy earned a C, with 23 percent of renters saying it’s on the right track and 33 percent saying it’s on the wrong track. These percentages reflect national averages.
Compared to national averages, a below average proportion of renters in Indy plan to purchase a home, with just 53 percent saying they expect to do so.
Indianapolis renters awarded the city its highest grade, a B+, for the quality of local schools, but gave the city a C for its safety and crime rate, with just 48 percent of renters reporting satisfaction with that category.
Compared to nearby cities, Indianapolis scored higher than Cincinnati (C-), but lower than Chicago (B+) and Louisville (A).
The top rated cities nationwide for overall satisfaction were Plano, Texas; Boston, Mass.; Arlington, Va.; Austin, Texas; and Torrance, Calif. The lowest rated cities were Newark, N.J.; New Haven, Conn.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Hartford, Conn.; and Columbia, S.C.
Rossett said the study indicates Indianapolis renters share typical concerns about the economy and crime, and feel Indy isn’t doing enough to meet their needs.
But there is a silver lining.
Although this wasn’t a part of the Renter Confidence Study, Rossett pointed out that based on Apartment Lists’ regular reports, Indianapolis has by far the lowest rent rates of any major city in the U.S.
However, renters will pay higher rents in cities that offer them access to amenities like great jobs, abundant parks or lots of recreation, he said.
Rossett noted that renters are also a highly mobile demographic moving nearly five times as often as homeowners. City officials, business leaders and community advocates must put themselves in a position to attract and retain this large and growing population, he said.
“Creating an environment that is attractive to renters is more important now than ever, and Indianapolis could do better,” said Andrew Tam, vice president of data science for Apartment List.
The full Renter Confidence Survey can be found at Apartmentlist.com/survey.
