Nearly 37 percent of Americans live in rental units . Some prefer the relative mobility that renting allows, while others like being able to call a landlord when things break. Some rent by choice, others by necessity because they cant afford the down payment to buy a house or qualify for a mortgage.

Whatever the reason, most of us are renters at some stages of our lives, and as in all things real estate, location is a big determinant of how much we will spend on our housing.

Here is a sampling of what we found in the rental markets of some of the cities along the HuffPost Listen to America bus tour route. A special H/T to our friends at Realtor.com for their help compiling this list.

This is what you can rent for $600 a month in ...

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is home to the 44,000-student University of Arizona. As is often the case in large university towns, the rental market has pockets of distortion caused by the supply and demand of student population. Students often share housing at inflated rates for a nine- or 10-month rental during the school year.

A room in this sweet-looking bungalow is charging $650 a month plus a share of the water bill .