Cleveland Suburbs · Cleveland, OH

Apartments for rent in Berea, OH

Berea is a southwest Cuyahoga County suburb best known as the home of Baldwin Wallace University. Cleveland-area apartment rents run roughly $1,060 to $1,350 a month from studio to three-bedroom (Zumper, July 2026). Berea has no local source-of-income ordinance, so Section 8 acceptance depends on the individual landlord.

Renting an apartment in Berea

Berea is a Cuyahoga County suburb southwest of downtown Cleveland, and it's best known regionally as the home of Baldwin Wallace University. It is one of 59 municipalities in the county, with its own city government, ordinances, and utility arrangements separate from Cleveland proper.

That distinction matters for renters: local rules around source-of-income (Section 8) protections, security-deposit handling under state law, and which electric or gas provider serves a given address can differ once you cross from Cleveland into a suburb like Berea — details covered further down this page.

Rent Finder Cleveland's current portfolio of 90+ Section 8-friendly rental homes is concentrated in Cleveland's east and southeast side neighborhoods, with a smaller presence on the west side, rather than in Berea itself. Tell our leasing team what you need and we'll flag relevant options as they come up, whether that's in Berea's surrounding area or a Cleveland listing that fits your commute to campus or elsewhere.

How much does an apartment cost near Berea?

We don't have Berea-specific rent data, but the broader Cleveland-area apartment market offers useful context for setting expectations. Per Zumper's median-asking-rent report dated July 4, 2026, the metro runs from $1,060 for a studio to $1,350 for a three-bedroom. RentCafe's July 2, 2026 report on professionally managed apartment communities shows notably higher averages, since that data set skews toward newer, larger buildings with more amenities rather than the full range of smaller, older units.

College towns like Berea can also see seasonal demand swings tied to the academic calendar at Baldwin Wallace, which can affect availability and pricing at different points in the year — always confirm current asking rent and lease-start timing directly with a specific building or landlord.

Getting around from Berea

Greater Cleveland RTA (GCRTA) operates the region's public bus network across Cleveland and its Cuyahoga County suburbs, with Tower City in downtown Cleveland functioning as the hub for the Red, Blue, Green, and Waterfront rail lines. Renters in Berea commuting toward Downtown or the airport corridor typically rely on a mix of RTA bus service and the highway network.

Berea's southwest position in the county places it on the western, lower-elevation side of the region, which historically sees less lake-effect snow accumulation than the higher-elevation eastern Cuyahoga County suburbs, since the heaviest lake-effect snow bands typically fall south and east of Lake Erie.

Section 8 vouchers and apartments in Berea

Ohio has no statewide law requiring landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers, and Berea does not currently have a local ordinance protecting voucher holders from source-of-income denial. Whether a specific Berea landlord accepts a voucher is that landlord's decision.

A patchwork of nearby Cuyahoga County suburbs does have local protections — Cleveland Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, and Warrensville Heights among them, per Signal Cleveland's 2024 reporting — but Berea is not currently on that list. Renters can apply for a Housing Choice Voucher year-round through CMHA (Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority), the county's public housing authority, regardless of which suburb they plan to rent in.

Every home Rent Finder Cleveland manages accepts Section 8 vouchers and is HUD-inspection-ready, though our current inventory is concentrated in Cleveland rather than Berea. See our Cleveland Section 8 guide for the full program breakdown, or browse Cleveland houses for rent in the neighborhoods where we currently manage homes.

CMHA's voucher income limits, effective April 3, 2025, top out at $34,800 for one person and $49,700 for a four-person household in this metro; these limits are revised annually, so confirm the current numbers directly with CMHA.

What to know before signing a lease near Berea

Ohio Revised Code 5321.16 governs security deposits statewide, including in Berea: a landlord must return the deposit within 30 days of move-out with an itemized statement of deductions, and any deposit exceeding $50 or one month's rent (whichever is greater) accrues 5% annual interest once a tenant has stayed six months or more. Ohio also has no statewide rent control.

If you'd rather widen your search to areas where Rent Finder Cleveland currently manages Section 8-friendly rental homes, explore our Cleveland apartment listings or book a free showing to see what's available now.

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.