HUD FY2026 · National FMR ranking

Cheapest Rent in the US

The most affordable counties and metro areas by Fair Market Rent. The cheapest county runs just $591 for a 1-bedroom.

$591
Cheapest county (1BR) - Clay
$636
Cheapest metro (1BR)
3,145
Counties ranked

The verdict

Across 3,145 US counties, Clay carries the lowest Fair Market Rent - $591 for a 1-bedroom, about 38% below the national average of $959. The most affordable counties cluster across the rural South and Midwest.

Cheapest 1BR
$591
National avg 1BR
$959
Counties ranked
3,145

HUD sets each county's FMR near the 40th percentile of local gross rents, FY2026.

The cheapest county to rent in the US is Clay County, where a 1-bedroom Fair Market Rent is $591/month (FY 2026) - about 38% below the national average of $959. The most affordable counties are concentrated in the rural South and Midwest.

Ranked across all 50 states and DC from HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents. HUD sets each county's FMR at roughly the 40th percentile of local gross rents. See our methodology.

Top 10 cheapest counties by 1-bedroom FMR

HUD Fair Market Rent, the FY2026 ceiling HUD will subsidize for a modest 1-bedroom unit

1BR FMR / mo

What this shows Clay County is the most affordable county in the nation for a 1-bedroom. Rural counties across the South and Midwest fill the cheapest tier.

Source U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), FY2026 FMR As of FY2026

How low the cheapest tier really is

The #1 cheapest county vs. every US county's 1-bedroom FMR

$591 Among the most affordable more affordable than 99% of 3,145 counties

$400–$600: 7 counties (0%). This entry sits in this band. $600–$800: 1,297 counties (41%). Above this entry. $800–$1,000: 912 counties (29%). Above this entry. $1,000–$1,200: 413 counties (13%). Above this entry. $1,200–$1,400: 179 counties (6%). Above this entry. $1,400–$1,600: 162 counties (5%). Above this entry. $1,600–$1,800: 92 counties (3%). Above this entry. $1,800–$2,000: 23 counties (1%). Above this entry. $2,000–$2,200: 31 counties (1%). Above this entry. $2,200–$2,400: 8 counties (0%). Above this entry. $2,400–$2,600: 6 counties (0%). Above this entry. $2,600–$2,800: 10 counties (0%). Above this entry. $2,800–$3,000: 4 counties (0%). Above this entry. $3,000–$3,200: 0 counties (0%). Above this entry. $3,200–$3,400: 1 counties (0%). Above this entry. Clay $400 $3,400 every US county, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $0.2K-wide band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

What this shows Clay County at $591/month is 38% below the $959 national average - among the lowest 1-bedroom rents of any of the 3,145 counties HUD publishes FMR data for.

Source U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents · FY2026

The second read

Cheap rent here really does mean affordable rent

Median household income (x) vs. 1-bedroom rent burden % (y) for every county in this ranking. Even the highest-burden county in this top-50 tier spends 27.4% of income on rent - under HUD's 30% affordability threshold. Low local incomes here still pair with rents low enough to stay genuinely affordable.

Cheapest-rent counties: income vs. rent burden

Rent-burdened despite low rentGenuinely affordableHigher local cost of livingComfortable$26549.5$36292.5$46035.5$55778.5$65521.410.7%15.7%20.8%25.9%30.9%Median household income1BR rent burden (%)
Cheapest-rent counties: income vs. rent burden
County ranking

Top 50 Cheapest Counties

# County Studio1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR
1 Clay County $576
$591
$776$1,024$1,027
2 Covington County $576
$591
$776$999$1,302
3 Crenshaw County $588
$591
$776$930$1,027
4 DeKalb County $576
$591
$776$992$1,302
5 Marion County $535
$591
$776$1,039$1,302
6 Marshall County $588
$591
$776$1,069$1,073
7 Pickens County $588
$591
$776$994$1,290
8 Clarke County $588
$603
$791$1,034$1,261
9 Conecuh County $576
$615
$776$1,079$1,157
10 Coosa County $576
$615
$776$1,079$1,157
11 Choctaw County $578
$616
$778$1,024$1,179
12 Monroe County $576
$619
$776$1,079$1,254
13 Winston County $576
$631
$776$1,070$1,150
14 Randolph County $536
$634
$778$980$1,126
15 Lamar County $618
$636
$776$1,024$1,040
16 Perry County $596
$636
$803$963$1,198
17 Morehouse Parish $631
$636
$834$1,143$1,172
18 St. Landry Parish $631
$636
$834$1,040$1,202
19 West Carroll Parish $601
$636
$834$1,088$1,138
20 Dallas County $620
$637
$836$1,103$1,107
21 Butler County $622
$638
$837$1,004$1,139
22 Madison Parish $616
$638
$834$1,100$1,399
23 Sumter County $619
$642
$827$1,107$1,193
24 Attala County $638
$642
$842$1,115$1,118
25 Bolivar County $638
$642
$842$1,096$1,115
26 Calhoun County $637
$642
$842$1,167$1,217
27 Chickasaw County $638
$642
$842$1,121$1,411
28 Choctaw County $638
$642
$842$1,115$1,118
29 Leflore County $638
$642
$842$1,055$1,115
30 Newton County $638
$642
$842$1,012$1,115
31 Prentiss County $638
$642
$842$1,012$1,118
32 Sunflower County $581
$642
$842$1,136$1,260
33 Jackson County $576
$643
$776$1,004$1,234
34 Caldwell Parish $604
$647
$834$1,072$1,249
35 Catahoula Parish $601
$647
$834$1,139$1,249
36 Concordia Parish $601
$647
$834$1,139$1,249
37 East Carroll Parish $601
$647
$834$1,139$1,249
38 Red River Parish $601
$647
$834$1,073$1,251
39 Lincoln County $645
$649
$852$1,126$1,129
40 Webster Parish $600
$651
$854$1,130$1,131
41 Avoyelles Parish $617
$653
$857$1,087$1,283
42 Marion County $651
$655
$860$1,031$1,366
43 Wilcox County $632
$656
$843$1,079$1,261
44 Lawrence County $653
$657
$863$1,068$1,148
45 Butler County $660
$660
$866$1,204$1,232
46 Clinton County $619
$660
$866$1,041$1,209
47 Crittenden County $619
$660
$866$1,038$1,209
48 Fulton County $619
$660
$866$1,204$1,453
49 Graves County $619
$660
$866$1,204$1,311
50 Hickman County $619
$660
$866$1,142$1,147
Metro ranking

Top 25 Cheapest Metro Areas

# Metro Area Studio1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR
1 Morehouse Parish, LA HUD Metro FMR Area $631
$636
$834$1,143$1,172
2 Cherokee County, KS HUD Metro FMR Area $664
$668
$877$1,157$1,161
3 Little River County, AR HUD Metro FMR Area $666
$671
$880$1,166$1,170
4 Acadia Parish, LA HUD Metro FMR Area $607
$671
$880$1,055$1,194
5 Boone County, WV HUD Metro FMR Area $669
$674
$869$1,195$1,458
6 Fayette County, WV HUD Metro FMR Area $631
$697
$915$1,195$1,535
7 Fort Smith, AR-OK MSA $683
$714
$937$1,266$1,532
8 Benton County, IA HUD Metro FMR Area $659
$729
$956$1,209$1,348
9 Rock County, MN HUD Metro FMR Area $727
$742
$973$1,353$1,357
10 Bosque County, TX HUD Metro FMR Area $671
$742
$973$1,283$1,288
11 Parkersburg-Vienna, WV MSA $741
$745
$928$1,194$1,253
12 Anniston-Oxford, AL MSA $753
$757
$962$1,300$1,361
13 Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH MSA $752
$757
$973$1,285$1,482
14 Allen County, KY HUD Metro FMR Area $759
$759
$996$1,224$1,520
15 Dothan, AL HUD Metro FMR Area $757
$762
$950$1,288$1,428
16 Youngstown-Warren, OH MSA $735
$771
$973$1,270$1,345
17 Mansfield, OH MSA $671
$773
$973$1,315$1,530
18 Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL MSA $698
$775
$1,000$1,242$1,409
19 Decatur, AL MSA $755
$776
$961$1,262$1,550
20 Alexandria, LA MSA $728
$780
$994$1,342$1,523
21 Lawton, OK HUD Metro FMR Area $779
$784
$1,001$1,392$1,679
22 Boone County, IA HUD Metro FMR Area $783
$788
$1,026$1,427$1,500
23 Massac County, IL HUD Metro FMR Area $784
$789
$969$1,348$1,415
24 Gadsden, AL MSA $639
$792
$927$1,124$1,304
25 Callaway County, MO HUD Metro FMR Area $789
$794
$1,042$1,249$1,472

How to read this ranking

The bar behind each 1-BR figure shows that county's rent as a share of the most expensive county in the table; a longer bar means a higher Fair Market Rent.

  • Fair Market Rent (FMR) is not market rent. HUD sets it near the 40th percentile of local gross rents and uses it to cap Section 8 voucher payment standards. Full methodology
  • Counties vs. metros: rural counties dominate the cheapest tier; metro FMR areas bundle several counties around a city and run higher. Browse metro areas
  • Cross-check a cheap FMR against local wages before relocating, since a low rent figure alone does not guarantee overall affordability. Rent burden rankings

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), FY2026 Fair Market Rents. This ranking is informational and not financial or relocation advice.

Cheapest Studio → Cheapest 2-BR → Cheapest 3-BR → Most expensive areas → Rent growth rankings →

Every figure on PlainRent is rendered directly from HUD's published Fair Market Rent records, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of FY 2026.