Report: How much apartment space $1,500 will buy in the Bay Area

A new report looks at how much apartment space can renters get on a $1,500 budget. Not surprisingly, most Bay Area cities offer between 400 and 550 square feet – much less than the national average of 782 square feet for $1,500, according to the RentCafe report.

San Francisco offers the smallest space, while in Santa Rosa provides the best bang for the buck. The report looked at 200 U.S. cities.

In the Bay area, the report shows:  

• Renters in San Francisco get the least amount of apartment space for $1,500: 336 square feet. That's the equivalent to a studio or even a small one-bedroom apartment. This is one of the smallest living spaces available for this budget nationwide, though it’s still larger than what Manhattan offers at a mere 243 square feet  
• The difference of 222 square feet between San Francisco and Santa Rosa, which offers the most space in the Bay Area – 558 square feet – could be an extra home office or even an extra bedroom  
•  Fremont and Oakland offer a compromise when it comes to apartment space – they each offer 418 and 458 square feet for $1,500, respectively. 
• In San Jose, renters can get 445 square feet for this budget.