Greensboro, NC. Maybe not such a small town in NC, but small on a national scale. To be honest, my comment was anecdotal and from memory. But a quick search led me to deptofnumbers.com/rent/north-carolina/greensboro. It goes back to 2005 where the median residential rate was listed as $794. So, my memory is likely colored by what I considered as “acceptable” conditions as well as expense in 1993. I ended up renting a room, with no real kitchen, but a nice enough bathroom, for $400. Yes it was cheaper, but the kitchen was basically an alcove with a dorm fridge and a microwave at the end of the hall. It was not a place you’d bring a date home to. I recall that actual “nice” apartments I looked at were around $800 or so
Edit, whoops had to change to nominal dollars. 2005 median was $635.