ApartmentRatings Users Rank Cities With Most Satisfied Renters

Fort Wayne anyone? Yep, the second largest city in Indiana may not be in the forefront of American’s minds, but according to our users, it houses the most satisfied renters in 2009.

We recently released rankings for renter satisfaction for the largest American cities based on thousands of user reviews posted on ApartmentRatings and Fort Wayne came out on top. Other cities in the top ten included Madison (WI),  Washington DC, Bakersfield (CA), Durham (NC), Boston and Chicago.

We believe ApartmentRatings is great source of information, not just about individual apartment buildings, but also broader renter trends and opinions across America. The overall rating of renter satisfaction is just one of the many factors our users can rate for apartment complexes around the country and these rankings are just the first part of a broader effort to share that information with the world.

Read the full press release below:

LOS ANGELES – ApartmentRatings.com, the leading website for user reviews of apartments around the United States, today released its rankings of renter satisfaction in the top 100 most populous cities in the country.

Topping the rankings was Fort Wayne, Ind. The second-largest city in Indiana has been called the number-one minor league sports city by Street & Smith’s Business Journal and offers one of the most affordable housing markets in the United States, according to the Demographia Housing Affordability Survey. And according to users of ApartmentRatings, it is also the city with the most satisfied renters in the country.

Rounding out the top ten cities with the most satisfied renters were:

Madison, Wis.

Arlington, Va.

Washington, D.C.

Chandler, Ariz.

Bakersfield , Calif.

Durham, N.C.

Lincoln, Neb.

Boston, Mass.

Chicago, Ill.

The full list of the 100 cities included in the rankings can be viewed at https://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/2009rentersatisfactionrankings.

“Congratulations to Fort Wayne and the other cities that topped the list of cities with the most satisfied renters,” said Michael Egan, general manager of ApartmentRatings.com.  “ApartmentRatings has long been a valuable resource for renters looking for information about individual apartment buildings. We’ve found that our users are also increasingly using the site as a tool in evaluating moving to new locations, which is why we decided to start ranking cities on renter satisfaction.”

The satisfaction scores were tabulated from thousands of user-submitted ratings provided in 2009 for apartment buildings located in the 100 most populous cities in the country.  In addition to overall satisfaction, users on ApartmentRatings.com can also rate their rental experience on a number of specific factors including noise, safety, and maintenance. Renters can also leaving leave comments about their individual living experiences.

Fort Wayne’s winning ranking was based on reviews associated with dozens of different apartment complexes in the city.

“The consistent mention of pet friendliness, good grounds, helpful management and quick repairs in apartment buildings in Fort Wayne helped it to rise to the top of the list,” said Egan.

Cities that fell to the bottom of list included Las Vegas, Anaheim, Calif., Norfolk, Va., Memphis, Tenn., and Aurora, Colo.  Aurora, a fast-growing suburb of Denver, had the lowest overall score of the cities included in the rankings.

About ApartmentRatings.com

Launched in 2000, ApartmentRatings.com is the largest online rating community for rental housing. The goal of ApartmentRatings is to help renters make an informed renting decision. As an independent resource for renters, ApartmentRatings’ reviews provide a realistic insider’s perspective of apartment communities because they are in renters’ own words. The site is among the top five most-visited apartment hunting sites in the world.