Just last week a Zillow report revealed renting a Boston apartment solo requires one make $100,000 a year. Couple that with high demand and a shortage of affordable units, and the collective $9.8 billion renters paid to live in The Hub in 2014 makes sense.

Thanks for the follow-up report, Zillow. (But seriously: good stuff.)

Correct: Boston metro dwellers spent almost $10 billion on rent this year. That’s up $638 million, or 6.9 percent, from the $9.2 billion collected in 2013.

Taking into account the roughly 12,000 additional renters that flooded Boston this year, Zillow calculated that the average renter household spent $58 extra per month, or an extra $696 per year, compared to the previous year.

Rents didn’t just spike in Boston. Across the board, renters in the top 50 metro markets paid $441 billion in collective rent in 2014, up nearly $21 billion from 2013.

And the rental market forecast for 2015 isn’t looking too promising, either. “Next year, we expect rents to rise even faster than home values, meaning that another increase in total rent paid similar to that seen this year isn’t out of the question,” Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said in a statement, adding: “In fact, it’s probable.”

Here’s a look at the total rent paid by the top 25 metros, courtesy of Zillow:

Related BostInno coverage:

What you need to know about the 2014 Boston housing market.

Photo via Tax Credits/Flickr