Living in or near a big city comes with perks, like great entertainment options, shopping centers, and career opportunities.

But just how much will you have to fork over in living expenses to call one of these areas home?

Depending on where you live, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the country's top metro areas can be less than $720 a month or higher than $2,500 a month.

Read more: Here's how much space $1,000 in rent will get you in 11 major US cities

Business Insider teamed up with Zillow's rental site, HotPads, to find the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in each of the 49 US metro areas with the largest populations (as determined by Zillow). We also used Data USA to find the median household income in each of these areas.

The data was compiled using HotPad's Repeat Rent Index. Each of the one-bedroom apartments analyzed in the study has been listed for rent on HotPads for longer than a month.

Keep reading for the full rundown, from the metro areas with the cheapest one-bedrooms to the areas with the priciest.