Housing market: How much is rent in Utah? These cities are most expensive

While rent prices haven’t been rising at quite the same pace as home prices, they’ve still been climbing steadily as the US housing market has been going haywire.

Utah is no exception. While Salt Lake Valley home prices have gone up as much as 50% in the last two years, average rent rates have increased about 12% to 15% a year, according to the Utah Apartment Association. Utah’s capital of Salt Lake City also recently ranked No. 3 in the nation among other large metro areas with the largest rent price increases from 2019 to 2022.

So while prices have been climbing, what cities are the least and most expensive to rent in the Salt Lake metro area?

The most expensive place to rent: The suburb of Sandy — located about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City and known for its proximity to Little Cottonwood Canyon and the tech sector Silicon Slopes — was the most expensive city to rent in, according to a new one report by Zumper, which analyzed seven Wasatch Front cities in Salt Lake and Utah counties.

• For a one-bedroom unit, the median rent in Sandy was $1,300 last month, according to the Zumper report. For two bedrooms? It was $1,580.

The least expensive: The least expensive city Zumper ranked in its analysis is Provo, home to Brigham Young University.

• For a one-bedroom unit in Provo, the median rent was $950 last month, according to the report.

Here’s how Zumper ranked all seven cities in its Salt Lake metro area report:

1. Sandy: median one-bedroom rent of $1,300, or $1,580 for two bedrooms.
2. Millcreek: $1,250 for one bedroom, $1,560 for two bedrooms.
3. Salt Lake City: $1,250 for one bedroom, $1,520 for two bedrooms.
4. Orem: $1,220 for one bedroom, $1,290 for two bedrooms.
5. South Salt Lake: $1,170 for one bedroom, $1,430 for two bedrooms.
6. Ogden: $1,000 for one bedroom, $1,390 for two bedrooms.
7. Provo: $950 for one bedroom, $1,180 for two bedrooms.

Where rent is going up the fastest: Out of all those cities, Millcreek — another suburb located a short drive south of Salt Lake City and at the base of Millcreek Canyon — has seen the fastest year-over-year growth.

• Millcreek’s median one-bedroom rent of $1,250 marks a 30% increase since this time last year.
• Close behind Millcreek is Ogden, where a two-bedroom rent of $1,390 marks a 27.5% increase year over year.