SLO one of the least affordable places for student renters in the country, report says
The San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles area is one of the least affordable places for student renters in the country, according to a new study from housing analysis website Porch.com.
According to the report, the SLO area is the fourth-least affordable small metro area in the United States for student renters, ranked No. 166 out of 169 locations, or the bottom 2%.
And it’s the 11th-least affordable when all metro sizes are grouped together.
Student renters here pay an average of $15,694 annually for off-campus room and board, $4,367 more than the national average of $11,327.
The study considered San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles to be one metropolitan area (100,000-349,999 residents), as they are the two largest municipalities in the county closest to Cal Poly. Community colleges like Cuesta College were not included in the study.
Though considered a small metro by the report, it costs more than many major metropolitan areas as well, by a considerable margin.
“Twelve major metros in the U.S. have average room and board costs below $10,000 per year, and three have costs below $8,000 annually,” the report said. “Many of these locations for affordable student housing also have cost of living below the national average, making them potentially good options for cost-conscious students when choosing where to live.”
Nationally, in the small metro category, only three places averaged a higher cost of living for off-campus student housing: Rochester, Minnesota, at $18,424; Napa at $16,580; and Binghamton, New York, at $16,030.
When compared against all metro areas included in the study, SLO fared equally poorly, ranking 306th out of 316 areas polled and placing it in the bottom 3%.
Other California metros like San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (308th), Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura (309th), Vallejo (310th), Napa (311th), Salinas (312th), Stockton (313th) and Santa Rosa-Petaluma (314th) made up eight of the top 10 least affordable metros in the country for students, with Binghamton (307th), Rochester (315th) and North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, (316th) rounding out the remaining spots.
High costs of living can have a significant impact on student performance, the report said, citing a study from Timely MD on the subject.
“Students’ challenges with finding housing also have consequences for their success in school. Research has found statistically significant relationships between housing insecurity and college persistence and completion. The insecurity can also lead to greater stress, worse physical health, and increased incidence of depression.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2022 at 10:45 AM.
