Photo by Mr. T in D.C.

Prepare to be incredulous: The Washington metro area is the fifth best place for renters, according to the site NerdWallet.

The top four cities on the list, which looked at affordability and rental market size, are Fargo, N.D.; Grand Forks, N.D.; Ames, Iowa; and Corvallis, Ore. So what the heck is the D.C. area doing in their company? The reasoning follows:

The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is the largest on our list. A whopping 57 percent of all households in this region rent. While the median monthly rent of a one-bedroom apartment, at $1,191, is higher than that of all other metropolitan areas on our list, it is only 13 percent of the median monthly income. Because Washington, D.C. has such a high concentration of renters, the District of Columbia government has an office dedicated specifically to tenant rights and advocacy. Additionally, tenants can find information and educational resources from the D.C. Tenants Advocacy Coalition (TENAC).

Yes, person whose rent is way more than 13 percent of your monthly paycheck, you must remember that the median monthly income for a household in the area is $8,942. NerdWallet got that data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which used information from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In related news, apartment vacancy in the D.C. metro area increased to four percent, up from two percent this time last year, as Phillip Tilly of Delta Associates relayed. Average effective rent in the area has also dropped. But as Tilly reports, vacancy and rents in D.C. proper are declining and increasing, respectively.