I was dead wrong about those viral "average rent" maps

Kept seeing that map claiming the average rent in Austin is $1,400, but my buddy actually drove around and called 40 complexes last month and the real average was more like $1,800. Anyone else find those city rent maps are always way off from what you're actually paying?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_hill8d ago

Those maps are pure fiction.

violag807d ago

Caught an NPR segment yesterday where they interviewed a cartographer about this exact thing. He said the same thing @jordan_hill, that most of those maps are based on old satellite data that's been smoothed over. The real terrain is way more rugged than what gets shown.

abby_morgan187d ago

Guess my sense of direction is based on those maps too.