Seattle’s average apartment size is down 47 square feet over the last decade, with an average size of 645 square feet in 2025, according to a new report from RentCafe.

That makes the Emerald City the place with the smallest apartments in the nation — smaller even, than San Francisco, notorious for its micro-sized units, where apartments have actually increased in size by 5% (on average, up 35 square feet to 717) over the past 10 years.

Nationwide, the average renter had 910 square feet in their pad last year. That’s the highest average in almost a decade and up from a low of 882 square feet in 2022. Year over year, the national new-apartment average increased by 13 square feet (studios increased by six square feet, one-bedrooms increased by three square feet, two-bedrooms increased by four square feet and three-bedrooms increased by a whopping 28 square feet).

In Seattle, however, new apartment construction is bringing the average down: nearly 56% of new apartments in the city are one-bedrooms and 25% are studios, with each respective size shrinking by about 40 square feet, RentCafe said.

Smaller units don’t mean Seattle renters are compromising on quality, though.

“When we see average apartment sizes decrease in a city, it doesn’t necessarily mean renters are getting less value,” said Veronica Grecu, senior real estate writer and research analyst for RentCafe. “In high-demand markets, developers often prioritize studios and one-bedrooms because they can deliver more apartments per building and meet the needs of a growing number of single-person and smaller households. The trade-off is a lower average square footage, but the upside is more availability in markets where inventory has historically been tight.”