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Thursday, March 13, 2025 · Vol. VIII · No. 184
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The Lead · Housing Investigation

Brooklyn's New Rent Cap Quietly Strips Out One-Bedroom Units — and Tenants Are the Last to Know.

A six-month review of 1,240 Brooklyn lease renewals shows landlords reclassifying apartments as "renovated 2-bed lofts" to skirt the 5% cap, pushing median one-bedroom rent up 14% in twelve months. We obtained the spreadsheets.

The City Cost Index

Rent, groceries, and transit across 87 U.S. metros — refreshed every Tuesday.

Our signature dataset tracks what city life actually costs. No vibes. No "feel." Just line items, sourced from 38,400 weekly price points and audited by independent statisticians.

Explore the full index →
01

Brooklyn, NY

$3,480 Median 1BR rent · +14% YoY
Rent Groceries Transit
02

Austin, TX

$1,890 Median 1BR rent · +6% YoY
Rent Groceries Transit
03

Chicago, IL

$1,610 Median 1BR rent · +3% YoY
Rent Groceries Transit
04

Phoenix, AZ

$1,420 Median 1BR rent · +1% YoY
Rent Groceries Transit
87 metros tracked · 38,400 weekly price points · Updated March 11, 2025
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Portrait of Jenna Wexler, Editor-in-Chief

Jenna Wexler

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