If you like personal space in an apartment, you’ll like McKinney.
According to a RentCafé study, each McKinney renter has nearly 600 square feet of personal space, which equates to each renter averaging 1.66 rooms all to themselves.
In second place is neighboring Frisco with 578 square feet. Fort Worth and Richardson tied for eighth place with 549 square feet. Plano, known for its large apartments, was 10th at 542 square feet and only 1.47 rooms per renter.
In Denton, a renter has only 554 square feet but can really stretch out with 1.78 rooms to themselves. This is because Denton, a city with two colleges, has fewer residents per apartment. Dallas is 11th with 537 square feet of personal space and 1.58 rooms per renter.
RentCafé methodology was pretty simple: Using Yardi Matrix, Census, and Tenure data, RentCafé calculated renters’ personal space by dividing the total apartment space by the number of renters living under the same roof.
Nationally, the personal space for renters has shrunk over the past 10 years, from 565 to 540 square feet, according to RentCafé.
The top place in the U.S. to spread out is the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Independence, Mo., which has 731 square feet or 2.24 rooms per renter, ranks No. 1. Independence is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro area. On the west side is No. 2 Olathe, which has 716 square feet and 2.21 rooms per renter. Overland Park, also west of KC, has 694 square feet and 1.87 rooms per renter.
The most elbow room in Texas is in Pearland, which has 688 square feet and 1.84 rooms per renter.
The top-10 cities with the least personal space are all in California. Fontana has 295 square feet and 1.01 rooms per renter.
Report review: You’ll like this RENTCafé study. It’s comprehensive and features five interactive charts to track the data. It’s a four-bunny rabbit hole. 
