Jaidyn Avalos, 22, graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, in December 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She moved from her dorm into her boyfriend’s place and began searching for an apartment of her own.
The search took longer than expected.
“It was hard to find something affordable, especially out of college,” Avalos said. “I realized that the newer buildings that are out there are nice, but super, super expensive.”
According to Apartments.com as of this writing, the average price of a one-bedroom apartment in Reno is $1,468.
While Avalos was living with her boyfriend, she was among the majority of recent college graduates nationwide who don’t have their own place. According to a 2025 survey from Sallie Mae, within two years of leaving school, 66% live with family, and 17% live with romantic partners or roommates. At the time, she was working as a leasing agent and heard a co-worker talk about a new affordable-housing property being built in Sun Valley.
“I grew up around Sun Valley, so I loved the neighborhood,” she said.
The Ridge, which opened in July 2025 at 5100 W. First Ave., has 195 units with rents currently set at $1,183 for a one-bedroom apartment, $1,415 for two bedrooms, and $1,630 for three bedrooms.
Applicants can qualify to live there if they earn 50 to 60% or less of the area median income, known as AMI. (In Reno, at 60%, that would mean an income of $46,440 or less, according to data from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.) They also need to pass a credit check and background check.
Avalos qualified with what she said was a yearly gross income of $39,000. In July 2025, she moved into a one-bedroom apartment at The Ridge with her two dogs, Koda and Dani. Now she’s among the 8% of recent college grads who Sallie Mae reports live on their own.
“I feel like everything I wanted in a first home is here,” she said. “I love my appliances. I love my neighbors. … The overall look of the apartment is so pretty in its own completely casual way, and I adore it.”
Supply and demand
While Avalos found affordable housing, the city of Reno’s Housing Needs Assessment suggests that, over the coming decade, some renters won’t. The report says that to meet the growing demand for housing, Reno will need 15,461 new units by 2034, along with more than 10,000 units rehabbed or renovated. Planners expect that Reno will meet the demand for market-rate housing over the next decade, but only 32 percent of the forecasted need for affordable housing.
Several affordable housing developments are in the planning stages in Reno and Sparks, however. Here’s a look at two that are in the works.
Ulysses Development Group, based in Denver, which built The Ridge, where Avalos lives, develops only affordable housing. In late December, Ulysses announced that it has closed financing for another Reno development, The Prospector, a five-story, 136-unit complex on the former site of the Record Street homeless shelter.
“This new community will bring 136 affordable homes to the city of Reno, reserved for residents earning 30%, 60% or 70% of the area median income,” according to a press release. At today’s income levels, a two-bedroom apartment for a family in those ranges would be $746, $1,492 and $1,741. A groundbreaking ceremony is slated for Feb. 10, and the target completion date is 2027.
Truckee Meadows Housing Solutions, a nonprofit development agency, has begun construction on GenDen, a 10-unit, one-bedroom-home community at 1100 W. Fourth St., on a parcel donated from the city of Reno, after more than a decade of work securing funds.
“It’s actually a good location for people who are low income, because it puts them right by the grocery store, the pharmacy and the bus line—any of the things that they need, especially if they don’t have transportation,” said Monica DuPea, executive director and founder of Truckee Meadows Housing Solutions.
Half of the 10 homes will go to participants in the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project, of which DuPea is also a founder and executive director, while the other half will go to seniors on the Reno Housing Authority waiting list, DuPea said. The expected monthly rent is $700. As part of the GenDen agreement, young people from NYEP living in that community will volunteer for five hours a month with the seniors who live there.
“We’ll be doing some container gardening, having barbecues together, playing cards—just social activities to engage seniors so they don’t isolate themselves,” DuPea said.