Mike Higdon

mhigdon@rgj.com

Average rent for an apartment in Reno-Sparks is the highest in history.

The high rental prices are driven primarily by growth and lack of available units, which are also the lowest ever. Rent roughly followed behind inflation, but so has income. Reports show rent will continue to rise in 2016 until more apartments buildings and complexes open next year.

Johnson Perkins Griffin Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants released a comprehensive report on apartments in Reno-Sparks showing 2016 rent prices by neighborhoods and apartment size. They also released prices going back 10 years to show comparison.

The data comes from a survey of apartment managers with 80 or more units and does not include property owners with less units, affordable housing, student or senior housing. But with more than 20,000 units surveyed, JPGNV believes their numbers are representative of the region.

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The RGJ took that information and broke it down into a series of maps and charts to give readers an idea of Reno's rental landscape. At the same time, we also looked at wages in Reno-Sparks, using data from Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation for Reno-Sparks and Washoe County.

The goal of these graphics is to demonstrate the changes between Reno-Sparks' income and the cost of rent over time. Naturally you're going to have some questions, so here are the charts as answers to those questions.

Yes. It's also the lowest availability.

This chart shows the correlation between average rent and low supply. This is the same thing raising housing prices. It averages all unit sizes from one bedroom, one bathroom to three bedroom, two bathrooms and townhouses in Reno-Sparks from 2006 to today.

Tap or hover over each point to see the average rent in that quarter.

The increase in rental prices in the last 6 months is the highest in 10 years. Before the recession, rents increased in small percentages of 0 to 3 percent. During the recession, rents dropped instead. Now, they are increasing in double digits.

Almost.

In 2014 and 2015, rent and income increased at the same speed. This means as people make more money, their rent eats up that money.

In this chart, we show the percentage change of income and rent using 2006 as a baseline since it was before the recession. The recession caused massive unemployment, income and property value declines, which needed to be shown relative to a "normal" year that is more like today. For that reason, 2006 is set to 0 and all other percentage increases and decreases are compared to it to show whether we're better or worse off than a decade ago.

While we're generally making more money, rents cost more than 2006, keeping buying power in the same place.

This interactive map shows the average rent price for a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment in each of the regions of Reno-Sparks today.

Caveat: Not all one bedroom units are created equal. Apartment units in the suburbs are generally larger than the core of the city. These sizes are noted in the map.

Method: We found the required monthly income and hourly wage (if working full time) when rent represents 30 percent of a person's income. The map also shows the low vacancy rate of each neighborhood, which contributes to supply and demand economics and raises rents. West Reno, for example, has no available units at this size.

Double-click to zoom in then click on different neighborhoods to see data for that neighborhood.

Most expensive neighborhood: East sparks

Least expensive neighborhood: Brinkby/Grove in central Reno

People in the hospitality industry.

Yes.

Since the map is based on one bedroom, one bathroom apartments, which are not always available and will skew lower in price relative to a larger unit, here's a more complete picture of rent, quarter by quarter, by unit size from 2006 to today.

Mike Higdon is the city life reporter at the Reno Gazette-Journal. He an be found on Instagram @MillennialMike and on Facebook at Mike Higdon, Reno Life.