Here's what you get for $1,700 in Austin, by ZIP code

Homebuyers and renters in Austin seem to be at war sometimes, but they have at least one thing in common: They get more bang for their buck in certain locations, less in others.

A new report by apartment-listing site RentCafe parses this difference for renters, looking at how much space they'll get for $1,700 per month — about the national average — in different 1,600 ZIP codes in the 50 largest U.S. cities. Here's how things panned out in Austin.

• Windsor Park (78732) offers the most apartment space in the Austin area. Here, a monthly rent of $1,700 can get you 1,115 square feet — double the living space you'd find in Manhattan's most generous zip code, 10033. 

• Downtown (78701), by way of contrast, $1,700 will only get you about 484 square feet. It's the tightest space you'll find in Austin for this price — though who wouldn't enjoy the hustle and bustle of dozens of towers being built all around them?

• If you don't want to sacrifice space or location, zip codes such as 78729, 78747, and 78754 — far northwest, far southeast, and northeast, respectively — strike a balance between the two. In these areas, $1,700 can rent you between 960 square feet and 1,000 square feet.

Out of the 44 Austin zip codes analyzed, 14 offer more space for $1,700 than the national average. Nationwide, renters can expect around 950 square feet of apartment space for this amount in America's 50 largest cities.