Cleveland Apartments · Cleveland, OH

Apartments for Rent in Cleveland Under $800

An $800 budget covers a meaningful slice of Cleveland's apartment market. Zumper's July 2026 report puts the citywide studio median at $1,060 and 2-bedroom median at $1,100, so $800 sits below both but within reach of smaller or older units, especially outside downtown. Rent Finder Cleveland's rental homes span roughly $700 to $1,800 a month.

What can $800 a month rent in Cleveland?

Eight hundred dollars a month sits below every Zumper-reported median for July 2026 — studio $1,060, 1-bedroom $1,195, 2-bedroom $1,100, and 3-bedroom $1,350 — which means it buys a smaller, older, or less-updated unit rather than a newer or larger one. It's a workable budget for many studios and some 1-bedrooms once you move away from the newest downtown and University Circle buildings that pull RentCafe's July 2026 average up to $1,564 for 787 square feet citywide.

A separate apartments.com count (accessed July 4, 2026) found 1,051 Cleveland-area units listed under $1,000, which is the broader pool that $800-and-under listings are drawn from. At $800, you're generally competing for the lower half of that pool, and it pays to move quickly once a suitable unit turns up, since lower-priced listings tend to rent faster than higher-priced ones in most markets.

What to expect from a building in this price range

Buildings renting near $800 are typically older construction without recent full renovations — think pre-war or mid-century multi-family buildings rather than new construction. In-unit laundry, central air, and off-street parking are less common at this price, and it's worth asking directly rather than assuming. Utility responsibility is another variable: confirm whether heat, electric, water, and trash are included or billed separately, since that can shift your real monthly cost by $100 or more.

Electric service in Cleveland comes from either Cleveland Public Power or The Illuminating Company, and natural gas from Enbridge Gas Ohio or Columbia Gas of Ohio, depending on the exact address — so two otherwise similar $800 units can have meaningfully different utility bills. Ask a landlord directly which providers serve the property, and request a recent bill or estimate if possible before signing a lease.

Renting a house instead of an apartment at this budget

An $800 budget is also within range of many small rental houses and duplex units, not just traditional apartments. Rent Finder Cleveland manages 90+ rental homes across the greater Cleveland area — a mix of single-family houses, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes — with rents generally running from about $700 to $1,800 a month and a median near $1,000. Many of our 2-bedroom units fall in the $750–$950 range, which overlaps directly with an $800 target.

Every home we manage accepts Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and is HUD-inspection-ready. Book a free showing and tell our team your budget and bedroom needs, or compare price points in our under $1,000 apartment guide and our broader Cleveland apartment resource.

Commuting on an $800 budget

An $800 rent budget often means looking a bit farther from downtown, so transit access matters. Greater Cleveland RTA runs a heavy-rail Red Line from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport through downtown's Tower City hub out to the east side, two light-rail lines (Blue and Green) to Shaker Heights, and the HealthLine bus rapid transit route along Euclid Avenue connecting Public Square to University Circle and East Cleveland — home to major employers including the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, the region's two largest employers. A regular bus network fills in the rest of the city, including most of the East and Southeast side ZIP codes where lower-cost rental homes, including many of ours, are concentrated.

If you're relocating for work at a hospital system, Case Western Reserve University, or another University Circle institution, it's worth checking a prospective $800 unit against RTA's Red Line and HealthLine routes before signing, since those two lines cover the bulk of the University Circle commute corridor.

Using a voucher to stretch an $800 budget

CMHA (Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority) administers the local Housing Choice Voucher program, with preliminary applications open year-round and selection made through periodic random drawings rather than a simple waitlist order. Income limits (effective April 3, 2025) run from $34,800 for a single person up to $49,700 for a household of four, and are updated annually — check CMHA's current figures before applying.

Keep in mind that Ohio has no statewide requirement that landlords accept vouchers, and Cleveland proper has no source-of-income ordinance of its own (a few suburbs — Cleveland Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, and Warrensville Heights — do have local protections). See our Section 8 housing guide for the full application process and what to expect.

Rent Finder Cleveland is an equal housing opportunity provider and does business in accordance with the Fair Housing Act. Availability, pricing, and terms are subject to change.