Rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in San Francisco is cheaper now than in 2019—that's not the case for these 10 metros

To afford living in a big city like San Francisco, California, you'd have to make double what most Americans earn, according to a May Moody's Analytics analysis.

Despite that, the San Francisco area is the only major metro where rent for one-bedroom apartments has actually decreased since 2019, according to data from Apartment List.

Rent in the area went from $2,435 in April 2019 to $2,281 in April 2024.

But that isn't the case for other metro areas across the United States that saw rent for one-bedroom apartments increase steadily since 2020.

CNBC Make It analyzed rent estimate data from Apartment List for April 2019 to April 2024, filtering metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the Census Bureau, by those with at least 500,000 residents to find the metros with the biggest rent increases for a one-bedroom apartments.

Eight of the top 10 metro areas are in the Sun Belt region. Rents in each of these metros have increased over 37% since 2019.

The Knoxville, Tennessee metro area saw rent for one-bedroom apartments increase the most from 2019 to 2024.

Rent in the area went from $582 to $907, or a 55.8% increase.

Knoxville's cost of living is 15% lower than the national average, while housing expenses are 29% higher.

The city is home to the University of Tennessee and is close to other major cities, including Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.

Albuquerque, New Mexico ranked as the No. 2 metro with the biggest rent increases for 1-bedroom apartments since before the covid-19 pandemic.

Rent for 1-bedroom apartments increased 49.5% from $646 to $966 from 2019 to 2024. The metro area was the No. 2 in the west, with the biggest rent increase for one-bedroom apartments after Honolulu, Hawaii.

Albuquerque is the largest city in New