- Amazon plans to spend $5 billion to build a second headquarters, dubbed HQ2, which will eventually provide jobs to as many as 50,000 highly-paid employees.
- Cities across North America have been submitting proposals to host HQ2 due to the potential for economic growth if Amazon comes to town.
- Rents could rise by over $200 a month in the city that wins the bid for Amazon’s new headquarters.
Thursday is the deadline for cities across North America to submit their bids to become the home of Amazon’s new $5 billion headquarters.
The e-commerce giant announced on September 7 it had begun looking for a place to build its second headquarters, which will eventually house 50,000, mostly white-collar workers making an average of over $100,000 a year.
Since Amazon has taken over Seattle, where it currently employs over 30,000 workers, Seattle has become the fastest-growing US city and the nation’s largest company town, according to a recent article in the Seattle Times. As such, residents are paying a premium to live there.
The situation will likely be the same for any one of the dozens of cities vying for Amazon’s HQ2 as they hope to duplicate Seattle’s economic boom in their own city.
That’s according to a new report from Apartment List, which analyzed how rents in some of the top contending cities would be impacted if Amazon moves in.
To compile its report, Apartment List gathered data for 15 metro areas that are likely in the running for HQ2. The data included current vacancy rates, median income, and median rent, as well as housing development and rent increases from 2005 to 2015. Apartment List projected how Amazon’s headquarters could change annual rent growth and then calculated the expected additional cost to renter households over a 10-year period.
Below, check out the 10 cities where rents could increase the most if Amazon’s HQ2 set up camp.
Boston, Massachusetts
Median rent: $1,969
Additional annual rent growth: 0.5% – 0.8%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $6,608 – $10,539
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Median rent: $1,253
Additional annual rent growth: 0.6% – 0.8%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $5,057 – $6,506
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Median rent: $1,217
Additional annual rent growth: 0.7% – 1.0%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $5,969 – $8,705
Detroit, Michigan
Median rent: $998
Additional annual rent growth: 0.8% – 1.2%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $5,571 – $8,031
Austin, Texas
Median rent: $1,386
Additional annual rent growth: 0.8% – 1.0%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $7,441 – $9,706
Denver, Colorado
Median rent: $1,480
Additional annual rent growth: 0.8% – 1.1%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $7,751 – $11,452
Baltimore, Maryland
Median rent: $1,406
Additional annual rent growth: 1.0% – 1.3%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $9,241 – $12,214
San Jose, California
Median rent: $2,691
Additional annual rent growth: 1.o% – 1.6%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $18,100 – $29,581
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Median rent: $837
Additional annual rent growth: 1.2% – 1.6%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $6,970 – $9,533
Raleigh, North Carolina
Median rent: $1,113
Additional annual rent growth: 1.5% – 2.0%
Cost to renter over 10 years: $11,756 – $15,356
