I've never lived in an apartment in the US that didn't have a fridge. The only time I have needed to buy appliances was my apartment in Tokyo and luckily I had a roommate that supplied most of them from their old place.

The only place I've lived where refrigerators weren't the norm in a unit was Los Angeles.

Very rare in Australia for the fridge to be in a rental property unless it's furnished.

The majority of apartments in the US come with appliances, as do many rental houses.