Key takeaways:
- The national average rent reached $1,436 in April 2019, up by 3% ($42) year over year, and by 0.3% ($5) month over month, according to Yardi Matrix data.
- Of the 253 cities included, 64% have average rents below the $1,436 national average, while 36% have average rents above.
- Average rent was just shy of $650/month in the nation’s most affordable rental market – Wichita, KS, while rents in Manhattan, NY hit $4,130.
Rents see a 3% annual increase in April, the lowest annual increase in 11 months
Nationally, average rent prices rose by 3% year-over-year, according to the latest Yardi Matrix data on apartment market trends. Rents averaged $1,436 this April — the second month in a row to witness a 0.3% m-o-m growth. Compared to last April, renters pay $42 more on average per month following relatively flat m-o-m rent increases during the off-season.
Of the 253 largest cities in the U.S., 64% have average rents below, while 36% have average rents above the national average in April 2019. Rent in Wichita, KS is the most affordable averaging $646, followed by Tulsa, OK with $688. Renters in Brownsville, TX are next as average rent in the Chess Capital of Texas reached $711 in April. As expected, the other end of the spectrum is dominated by large renter hubs that have been topping the highest rent list for many rental seasons: Manhattan and San Francisco.
Check out the interactive map below to find out more about average rent prices in small, mid-sized, and large U.S. cities
Rents in the 20 largest renter hubs range from the $800s to the $4,000s
With $861 per month on average, Indianapolis, IN boasts the lowest average rent among the largest U.S. renter hubs analyzed, followed by Columbus, OH with $924.
Manhattan rents are the highest nationwide, with monthly prices in the exclusive NYC borough averaging $4,130. Next up is Los Angeles where, although it experienced the highest y-o-y net increase among the top renter hubs ($122), the average rent is significantly lower: $2,471. Within the $2,000 range are Washington, D.C. ($2,144) and Seattle, WA ($2,068), while rents in popular renter hubs like Las Vegas, NV ($1,061) or Phoenix, AZ ($1,046) perform under the national average.
April rents in the 20 largest renter mega-hubs:
| City | Average Rent April 2019 | Average Rent Previous Year | Net 1-Yr Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan (New York City), NY | $4,130 | $4,091 | $39 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $2,471 | $2,349 | $122 |
| Washington, D.C. | $2,144 | $2,097 | $47 |
| Seattle, WA | $2,068 | $2,015 | $53 |
| Chicago, IL | $1,913 | $1,855 | $58 |
| Denver, CO | $1,621 | $1,570 | $51 |
| Atlanta, GA | $1,433 | $1,380 | $53 |
| Orlando, FL | $1,410 | $1,362 | $48 |
| Austin, TX | $1,374 | $1,314 | $60 |
| Tampa, FL | $1,307 | $1,257 | $50 |
| Dallas, TX | $1,206 | $1,161 | $45 |
| Charlotte, NC | $1,202 | $1,164 | $38 |
| Houston, TX | $1,100 | $1,090 | $10 |
| Fort Worth, TX | $1,097 | $1,054 | $43 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $1,085 | $1,015 | $70 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $1,061 | $987 | $74 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $1,046 | $971 | $75 |
| San Antonio, TX | $1,023 | $988 | $35 |
| Columbus, OH | $924 | $892 | $32 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $861 | $828 | $33 |
Apartments in large cities on the coasts charge the highest rents while those in the Midwest and the South offer the lowest rents
El Paso has the second-lowest average rent among larger U.S. cities. Aside from it, the other large Texas markets analyzed are close to the national average. San Antonio, Fort Worth, Houston, Dallas, and Austin all display average asking rents in the lower $1,000s.
The large California markets considered surpassed the national average mark, with apartments for rent in San Diego reaching $2,162 and LA rentals going for $2,471 per month. In top-performing markets like San Jose and San Francisco, monthly April figures have reached $2,720 and $3,647, respectively.
Mid-sized cities in California ask for the highest average rent prices
A thriving business climate, good weather, and proximity to top-tier educational institutions are just some of the reasons for the Golden State’s unceasing popularity. Rent in Oakland, CA reached $2,812, followed by the $2,008 average in Long Beach, CA, the second-highest among mid-sized U.S. cities. Anaheim and Santa Ana, although among the mid-sized cities that boast higher rents, actually saw the smallest monthly increases. Rent in Anaheim dropped by 0.4% and is now $1,785 per month, while in Santa Ana, the monthly asking price is $1,927 after dropping 0.2% since March.
The mid-sized cities with the lowest average rents remain more or less the same compared to March or this time last year. Wichita, KS has the lowest average rent in the country and Tulsa, OK follows— both well below the national average. In third place is Tucson, AZ with $862, followed by Albuquerque, NM ($874), and Lexington, KY ($901).
See the complete list of cities at the end of this report
Small cities in Texas continue to boast the smallest average rents nationwide
Apartments in eleven of the small cities analyzed offer average rent prices in the $700s. Renters in Texas’s Brownsville ($711), Amarillo ($726) and Killeen ($737) enjoy the smallest rent prices in the country, much like those renting in Toledo, OH ($714), and Independence, MO ($751).
The average rent in April reached $2,922 in Jersey City, NJ, followed by California’s Sunnyvale ($2,907) and Santa Clara ($2,872). The only small cities with average rents jumping the $3,000 mark are the flourishing San Mateo, CA and Cambridge, MA ($3,064). Coincidentally, the $3,310 average in San Mateo is the fourth highest rent in the U.S., right behind larger cities like Boston and the neighboring San Francisco.
2-bedroom apartments were the most popular on RentCafe in April
Based on RentCafe.com traffic data, 2-bedroom apartments are most in-demand, making up for 41% of the April rental online searches. Other apartment types underwent a flat evolution, with hits on 1-bedroom units reaching 30% and on 3-bedrooms 15%. Searches for studio apartments increased by 2% m-o-m and make up almost 14% of rental searches of RentCafe.com in April.
Curious about rents in cities like Philadelphia or Portland? Check the average rent price in your city by using this interactive table:
Methodology:
RentCafe is a nationwide apartment search website that enables renters to easily find apartments and houses for rent throughout the United States.
To compile this report, RentCafe’s research team analyzed rent data across the 253 largest cities in the US. The report is exclusively based on apartment data related to buildings containing 50 or more units and includes all unit types. Our report includes cities with populations over 100,000 and a rental stock of at least 2,900 apartments in 50+ unit buildings.
In this report, large cities are cities with a population of 600,000 people or more, mid-sized cities are cities with a population between 300,000 and 600,000, and small cities are cities with a population of less than 300,000.
Rent data comes directly from competitively rented (market-rate) multifamily properties (50+ units in size) via telephone survey and is compiled and reported by Yardi Matrix, a business development and asset management tool for brokers, sponsors, banks and equity sources underwriting investments in the multifamily, office, industrial and self-storage sectors. Fully-affordable properties are not included in the survey and are not reported in rental rate averages.
*The national average rent includes over 130 markets across the U.S., as reported by Yardi Matrix.
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