We all know renters pay a premium to live in New York City and that Texas apartments remain a good bang for your buck. But new data from RentCafe shows just how much SF $1,500 will get you in the nation's most populous cities.

RentCafe compared average apartment size and rent to get an average price/SF. While the major outliers such as New York City, Boston and San Francisco may not surprise you, the mid-range cities might.

$1,500 in Dallas will get you 1,210 SF. Austin comes in slightly more expensive at 1,049 SF for $1,500, and Houston and San Antonio are 1,271 SF and 1,376 SF, respectively.

While comparing the most and least expensive cities has the most shock value ($1,500 will get you 271 SF in Manhattan and nearly 2k SF in Memphis!), comparing the middle market cities tells the most accurate story because these cities are most alike based on desirability, job growth and other outside factors.