What $1,700 a Month Actually Rents in San Antonio: A Relocator's Area-by-Area Reality Check

If you are pricing a move to San Antonio from Denver, San Diego, or Chicago, the first number a relocator asks for is a monthly rent midpoint. As of September 2026, RentInSA's active rental inventory shows a median asking rent of $1,700 per month across all bedroom counts, with about 4,698 units live and roughly 1,790 new listings posted in the last 30 days. That is the honest baseline. What that $1,700 rents, though, changes dramatically depending on which side of Loop 410 you sign the lease on.

This is a working relocator's map of what the median actually buys — by area, by bedroom count, and by the tradeoff you accept when you pick one over another.

The citywide baseline, in real numbers

From RentInSA's active listings, September 2026:

• Median rent, all beds: $1,700/mo
• Median rent per square foot: $1.11
• 1BR median: $950 (n=294)
• 2BR median: $1,300 (n=745)
• 3BR median: $1,695 (n=2,353)
• 4BR median: $2,100 (n=1,092)

Two things to note before you go house hunting. First, three-bedroom homes dominate the market — over half of active listings. San Antonio is a single-family-rental town more than an apartment town, and pricing reflects that. Second, at $1.11 per square foot, the median asking rent buys roughly 1,530 sq ft. That number is a useful sanity check when a listing photo makes a place look bigger or smaller than it is.

Inside Loop 410: the urban core tradeoff

Southtown (78204, 78210), the King William and Lavaca historic districts south of downtown, and the near-downtown pockets around Dignowity Hill (78202) are where $1,700 goes soft. You are typically looking at a 1BR loft, a small 2BR bungalow in rough-but-charming condition, or a townhouse in a recent infill build. Square footage is the sacrifice — a Southtown 2BR at $1,700 is often 800–950 sq ft, well above the citywide $1.11/sq ft median.

Alamo Heights (78209), a roughly 2-square-mile independent municipality inside Loop 410 with its own PD and its own ISD, does not really participate in the $1,700 median. Detached rentals there generally start well above it. If Alamo Heights ISD schools are the reason you are moving, budget accordingly and expect thin inventory.

The North Side above 1604: where $1,700 mostly misses

Stone Oak (78258), north of Loop 1604 off US-281 and zoned primarily to NEISD, is one of the most searched relocator ZIPs. It is also one where the median rent understates what you will actually pay for a family-sized home. A 3BR/2BA single-family in Stone Oak generally clears the $1,695 3BR median — often by several hundred dollars. What $1,700 does buy up there is usually a 2BR apartment in one of the newer Class A complexes along Sonterra or Huebner, or a smaller townhouse.

If you want a detached 3BR house on the far North Side inside a NEISD or NISD boundary and you need to stay at or under $1,700, expect to look further out — Bulverde Road corridor, or the northwest side toward Helotes (78023), which is NISD.

Northeast suburbs: the commuter arbitrage

This is where the median tells the truth. RentInSA's active listings in Converse show 243 available units at a $1,695 median — essentially the citywide 3BR median, but for actual detached houses in the 1,500–1,900 sq ft range, most zoned to Judson ISD. Schertz (83 available, $1,995 median) and Cibolo (83 available, $2,100 median) run about $300–400 higher, and you are generally getting newer construction, larger lots, and SCUC ISD zoning.

The tradeoff is drive time. From Converse to JBSA-Randolph is 10–15 minutes; to downtown, 20–30 depending on I-35 conditions. From Cibolo to downtown you are budgeting 35–45 minutes at rush hour. If your job is at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston or anywhere along the 410 East loop, the northeast suburbs are the clearest value in the market right now.

Area	Active rentals	Median rent	Typical school district
San Antonio (all)	3,460	$1,695	NISD / NEISD / SAISD / others
Converse	243	$1,695	Judson ISD
Schertz	83	$1,995	SCUC ISD
Cibolo	83	$2,100	SCUC ISD
New Braunfels	318	$1,750	NBISD / Comal ISD
Boerne	70	$2,925	Boerne ISD

New Braunfels and Boerne: why the median jumps

Boerne (78006, Kendall County) sits at a $2,925 median — nearly double the citywide figure. That is not because Boerne landlords are opportunistic; it is because the inventory that exists to rent there is mostly newer, larger homes on bigger lots inside Boerne ISD. If the number surprises you, it is the inventory mix talking. Same story in a milder form for New Braunfels ($1,750 median, 318 active), which straddles Comal and Guadalupe counties and pulls in relocators heading to the tech corridor between SA and Austin.

By bedroom count: what actually clears at $1,700

Using the citywide medians as a filter:

• 1BR ($950 median): $1,700 is a top-of-market 1BR. You should be looking at newer Class A apartments with garages, or 1BR/1BA casitas in North Central neighborhoods.
• 2BR ($1,300 median): $1,700 buys a well-located 2BR — Alamo Heights-adjacent (78209 edges), Terrell Hills-adjacent, or a newer North Side complex with amenities.
• 3BR ($1,695 median): $1,700 is exactly the median. You are firmly in single-family territory, most likely Converse, far Northwest (Alamo Ranch area, 78253), Southwest, or older North Central neighborhoods.
• 4BR ($2,100 median): $1,700 will not clear a typical 4BR. If you need four bedrooms at that number, you are looking at older stock on the South or East sides, or an unusually priced sublet.

What most people get wrong

Assuming the median rent is what they will actually pay. The $1,700 figure is a midpoint across every bed count and every ZIP. If you have three kids and need a Stone Oak 4BR in NEISD, your real number is closer to $2,400–2,800. Anchor to the bedroom median, not the citywide one.

Confusing NEISD with NISD. North East ISD (NEISD) covers the north-central and Stone Oak corridor. Northside ISD (NISD) is the largest district in the city and covers the northwest — Helotes, Alamo Ranch, far west 1604. Two different districts. Two different school lists. Verify the address on the district's own attendance-zone lookup before you sign.

Using the Boerne or Cibolo median to argue San Antonio is expensive. Those medians reflect the housing stock available to rent in those specific ZIPs — mostly larger, newer homes. They are not representative of citywide pricing.

Forgetting utilities are two separate bills. CPS Energy handles electric and gas. SAWS handles water and sewer. Neither one bundles the other, and both require deposits or auto-pay setup that you should start a week before move-in.

Signing a 12-month lease without checking the Military Clause and repair-duty language. Even if you are not military, Texas Property Code § 92.052 sets the landlord's basic repair duty and § 92.103–104 governs security deposit return. If your lease tries to waive either in plain English, that is a red flag worth a conversation with a Texas attorney before signing.

Treating the listed rent as the total. Application fees, admin fees, pet fees (often $250–500 non-refundable plus $25–50/month pet rent), renter's insurance requirements, and valet trash add-ons routinely push the effective monthly cost 8–15% above the sticker.

Timing your search against the supply cycle

With 1,790 new listings in the last 30 days against roughly 4,698 active, roughly 38% of current inventory turned over in the last month. That is a genuinely liquid market — you do not need to lock in a lease six weeks out. For most relocators, a two- to three-week window before your target move-in date gives you enough fresh inventory to compare without paying for an empty apartment. Summer (June–August) sees the highest turnover because of school calendars and PCS cycles; if you can move November–February, you will see softer pricing and more landlord flexibility on concessions.

---

When you are ready to see what the $1,700 median actually looks like in your target ZIP, filter RentInSA's active rentals at /rentals by bedroom count and area — the medians above are drawn from that same live inventory, updated as landlords and property managers post. If you would rather talk to someone who works Bexar County full-time, browse local agents at /agents.