This is how big Houston apartments get for $1,500 a month

We all know what renters dream about when they’re not thinking about the logistics of owning a home: low rent prices with the perfect amount of space. In a city like Houston, that’s getting harder and harder to come by.

In fact, for renters who have a budget of $1,500 a month, the average apartment size they can get in Houston spans about 997 square feet. That’s according to a new study by apartment rental marketplace RentCafe. The study looked at data from their sister site, Yardi Matrix, to determine the average size and price per square foot for a $1,500 monthly budget in 200 of the largest American cities.

H-Town is just outside the top 10 in a ranking of Texas cities with the most space for the same budget, at No. 11. If you head to neighboring Pasadena, residents get an average of 1,180 square feet of space for the same price.

The worst offender, with the smallest space for the price, is Austin. Austin renters have to make do with an average apartment size of 714 square feet, which is a 283-square-foot difference in comparison to Houston. In Killeen, which is only 70 miles north of Austin, renters can find an average apartment size of 1,095 square feet. The Capital City is at the bottom of the list in the overall analysis of Texas cities; adding to the ever-growing list of reasons to be glad we don't live there.

Renters looking to live in Fort Worth or Dallas will notice a nearly 100 square foot difference between apartments, at 909 and 805 square feet, respectively. Residents can get the most bang for their buck in the suburbs with an average apartment size well into the 900-square-foot range. Mesquite residents, by far, get the most space, at 999 square feet, whereas renters in Garland and Arlington get an average of 937 and 928 square feet for the same budget.

Elsewhere in Texas, apartments in the Rio Grande Valley have the best price per square foot in the state. McAllen residents get the most space out of any other Texas city with an average apartment size of 1,471 square feet. Renters in Brownsville, which is 60 miles east on the border, can get a similarly sized apartment that’s 1,307 square feet for the same $1,500 a month budget.

Here’s how much space you can rent for $1,500 a month in other Texas cities:

• Amarillo – 1,318 square feet
• El Paso – 1,222 square feet
• Lubbock – 1,218 square feet
• Corpus Christi – 1,126 square feet
• Grand Prairie – 873 square feet
• Denton – 868 square feet
• Irving – 848 square feet
• McKinney – 809 square feet
• Plano – 766 square feet
• Frisco – 740 square feet

The full report can be found on rentcafe.com.