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DC rent among nation’s highest — but apartments are pet friendly

WASHINGTON — The District now ranks as the fourth-most expensive market for apartment rent, behind only San Francisco, San Jose and New York City.

GoBankingRates.com says the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in D.C. is $2,271, likely skewed higher by the city’s wave of luxury apartment construction in recent years.

The median rent for a one-bedroom in San Francisco is $3,395, while it’s $2,505 in San Jose and $2,395 in New York.

D.C. apartments are also the most pet-friendly among big cities, with 44 percent allowing pets.

Also on the plus side, the District has the 10th-lowest utilities cost, the eighth-best walkability score and the second-highest percentage of apartments with a fitness center.

Here are some other facts about D.C.’s apartment market:

  • 54 percent have dishwashers
  • 50 percent have washers and dryers
  • 39 percent have pools
  • 29 percent have a parking garage

The cheapest place to rent an apartment in the nation is El Paso, Texas, where the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is just $555 a month.

Prison to posh: DC’s Lorton Reformatory transforms into stylish suburban development

If those walls could talk, the bricks of the former Lorton Reformatory would likely express surprise. What was once an overcrowded, violent penitentiary for prisoners from the District is now a desirable suburban development — and in the midst of becoming a thriving urban village.
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