• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechAmazon

Here’s How Much Amazon HQ2 Could Raise Rents in Your City

Barb Darrow
By
Barb Darrow
Barb Darrow
Down Arrow Button Icon
Barb Darrow
By
Barb Darrow
Barb Darrow
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 19, 2017, 10:55 AM ET

The bright side of a tech-and-retail giant planting a shiny new headquarters in your neighborhood is that your employment opportunities may get a whole lot better. The dark side of 50,000 new jobs coming to your municipality is that all those people (allegedly making $100,000 or so per year) will suck up every apartment in sight and drive up rents.

Apartment List, a website that aggregates apartment listings to help would-be renters find what they need city-by-city, did a deep dive into what impact Amazon’s proposed second headquarters (nicknamed by Amazon as “HQ2”) would have on rents in 15 cities viewed as front runners. The full survey factors in a metro area’s current vacancy rates and workforce salaries as well as Amazon’s plan to employ 50,000 of its own people in HQ2. Amazon also said it expects HQ2 to generate an additional 62,000 local jobs wherever the new offices end up.

Boston, which has been mentioned as a front-runner in the HQ2 sweepstakes, is already known for high rents, which means it would be impacted less than some of the other metro areas surveyed. Boston area rents rose 2.8% between 2005 and 2015 on average, and Amazon would add another 0.5% to 0.8% to that.

“That is in the low range of cities surveyed, “Apartment List co-founder and chief operating officer Chris Erickson tells Fortune. “That means a median renter would pay an additional $6,600 to $10,500 in rent over ten years.”

Related: Amazon HQ2 Will Most Likely Be in One of These Cities

Courtesy of Apartment List.

Raleigh, N.C., one of the smaller metro areas covered, would see rents rise the most should Amazon set up shop there. While Raleigh is part of the Research Triangle Park—home to Duke University, University of North Carolina, and other institutions—it still has a relatively small workforce and would have to draw in lots of new people, according to research. Rents in Raleigh grew 3.2% between 2005 and 2015, and Amazon (AMZN) would boost that by another 1.5% to 2% per year. That means a typical renter would end up paying $11,756 to $15,356 in additional rent over a decade counting in the Amazon factor.

Related: Michael Jordan Wants Amazon HQ2 in Charlotte

If Amazon HQ2 ends up in San Jose, it would add insult to injury to beleaguered renters there who already saw their costs rise a whopping 57% from 2005 to 2015. Construction permits in San Jose are hard to get, and the area already has the lowest vacancy rate of all the metro areas surveyed, so there is little wiggle room to accommodate tens of thousands of new workers in an affordable way. Amazon would add another 1% to 1.6% per year atop annual rent increases of 5.1% per year between 2005 and 2015. A San Jose household could thus see its rent rise $18,100 to $29,581 over ten years.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily tech newsletter.

Apartment List’s post did not include New York City—in part because Amazon’s request for proposals cited low cost of living as one parameter. But the researchers ran the numbers for Fortune. Because the New York metro area—including all five boroughs, not just super-expensive Manhattan—has a huge population and a relatively high vacancy rate, an influx of even 50,000 new workers wouldn’t mean much in the greater scheme of things.

New York saw 3.7% rent increase from 2005 to 2010, and Amazon would add another 0.1% to 0.2% to that. That would equate to about $1,300 to $2,100 rent increase over a decade. New Yorkers could probably take that in stride.

About the Author
Barb Darrow
By Barb Darrow
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

AIOpenAI
OpenAI plans to almost double its headcount this year, FT says
By Liza Tetley and BloombergMarch 21, 2026
23 minutes ago
Politicsarms, weapons, and defense
The U.S. has the world’s most advanced military, but the unforgiving economics of wars in Iran and Ukraine show quantity has a quality all its own 
By Jason MaMarch 21, 2026
2 hours ago
AIAI agents
OpenAI cofounder says he hasn’t written a line of code in months and is in a ‘state of psychosis’ trying to figure out what’s possible
By Jason MaMarch 21, 2026
5 hours ago
david
CommentaryScience
The one skill that separates people who get smarter with AI from everyone else
By David Rock and Chris WellerMarch 21, 2026
11 hours ago
Geoffrey Hinton standing in front of a white and grey background.
AITech
‘Godfather of AI’ says tech companies aren’t concerned with the AI endgame. They’re focused on short-term profits instead
By Sasha RogelbergMarch 21, 2026
12 hours ago
MagazineCoding
Cursor’s crossroads: The rapid rise, and very uncertain future, of a $30 billion AI startup
By Allie GarfinkleMarch 21, 2026
12 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.