The US National Rent Report
Median US asking rent is $1,829. Every figure is the raw number from 139,979 live apartment listings across 10,164 properties in 1147 cities, not a smoothed index.
The prices behind this report refresh every morning; the September 2026 dateline anchors this monthly edition for citation. The numbers below show what apartments list for, before any model or survey averages them out. Half of tracked units list below the $1,829 line and half above; two out of three fall between $1,448 and $2,432.
Live data snapshot
Based on 139,979 units in 1147 cities across 50 states and Washington, DC, as of September 23, 2026.
The most expensive and cheapest markets right now
Redwood City, CA is the most expensive market in this edition at $5,209, while Decatur, IL is the cheapest at $814. That is a 6.4x gap in a single month. Each market links to its full rent-trend page.
10 cheapest markets
Minimum 3 tracked properties per city. Tap any city for its full rent trends page.
- 1 Decatur, IL $814
- 2 Dubuque, IA $824
- 3 Fort Smith, AR $889
- 4 Fargo, ND $892
- 5 Amarillo, TX $905
- 6 Midwest City, OK $922
- 7 Hattiesburg, MS $968
- 8 Erie, PA $974
- 9 Metairie, LA $975
- 10 Yakima, WA $975
10 most expensive markets
Minimum 3 tracked properties per city. Tap any city for its full rent trends page.
- 1 Redwood City, CA $5,209
- 2 Brooklyn, NY $5,154
- 3 Palo Alto, CA $4,969
- 4 San Mateo, CA $4,917
- 5 Boston, MA $4,812
- 6 Santa Barbara, CA $4,749
- 7 Hoboken, NJ $4,667
- 8 Mountain View, CA $4,557
- 9 Cupertino, CA $4,522
- 10 San Francisco, CA $4,498
What apartment buildings earn
Rent is one side of the ledger; building revenue is the other. We estimate each tracked building's monthly rental revenue from its unit-level listing and leasing activity, which no other public rent index does. These are the highest earners this month.
The highest-earning apartment buildings we track
Across 1,813 buildings with a reported building size, rental revenue totals about $827M per month. Estimated from unit-level listing and leasing activity against each building's own reported unit count. Tap any building for the full breakdown and methodology.
| Building | City | Est. Monthly Revenue | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Stanford West | Redwood City, CA | $2.9M/mo | 628 |
| 2Willoughby | Brooklyn, NY | $2.5M/mo | 476 |
| 3Atlas Apartments | Oakland, CA | $2.4M/mo | 633 |
| 4The Park | Elizabeth, NJ | $2.4M/mo | 932 |
| 5Fountain Park Apartments | Playa Vista, CA | $2.3M/mo | 705 |
| 6The Asher | Fremont, CA | $2.3M/mo | 632 |
| 7Vineyards Resort Apartment Ontario | Ontario, CA | $2.3M/mo | 925 |
| 8Juniper | Daly City, CA | $2.3M/mo | 815 |
| 9Optima Sonoran Village | Scottsdale, AZ | $2.3M/mo | 768 |
| 10Residences at West Edge | Santa Monica, CA | $2.2M/mo | 600 |
Research estimates from listing activity, not operator financials.
State-by-state medians
Across 50 states and Washington, DC with live coverage, the spread runs wider than the national figure shows. Every row links to a state-level rent-trend page.
Median rent by state
Sorted high to low. Showing states with at least 50 tracked apartment properties. Tap any row to open that state's full rent trends page with city-level breakdowns.
| State | Median | P25 to P75 | Properties | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $3,266 | $2,580 to $4,031 | 260 | 4,135 |
| California | $2,810 | $2,355 to $3,411 | 1,435 | 12,956 |
| Connecticut | $2,500 | $1,974 to $3,004 | 101 | 1,065 |
| New Jersey | $2,430 | $2,114 to $2,969 | 128 | 2,548 |
| New York | $2,285 | $1,702 to $3,495 | 258 | 1,979 |
| Virginia | $2,200 | $1,791 to $2,685 | 231 | 3,606 |
| Maryland | $2,169 | $1,892 to $2,538 | 71 | 1,083 |
| Illinois | $2,129 | $1,660 to $2,657 | 254 | 2,897 |
| Washington | $2,080 | $1,656 to $2,637 | 275 | 2,916 |
| Florida | $2,076 | $1,695 to $2,647 | 623 | 10,581 |
| South Carolina | $2,005 | $1,675 to $2,490 | 98 | 1,409 |
| Colorado | $1,953 | $1,663 to $2,426 | 299 | 4,987 |
| Pennsylvania | $1,952 | $1,676 to $2,358 | 86 | 1,044 |
| Nevada | $1,873 | $1,636 to $2,111 | 67 | 1,083 |
| Georgia | $1,864 | $1,540 to $2,345 | 416 | 7,174 |
| Oregon | $1,864 | $1,586 to $2,189 | 156 | 1,474 |
| Minnesota | $1,807 | $1,519 to $2,272 | 226 | 2,414 |
| Tennessee | $1,769 | $1,475 to $2,165 | 226 | 3,614 |
| Wisconsin | $1,740 | $1,450 to $2,270 | 99 | 967 |
| Idaho | $1,715 | $1,595 to $1,983 | 63 | 455 |
| Arizona | $1,714 | $1,435 to $2,043 | 282 | 4,374 |
| Utah | $1,700 | $1,450 to $2,070 | 201 | 2,295 |
| North Carolina | $1,693 | $1,428 to $2,055 | 396 | 7,293 |
| Kansas | $1,604 | $1,235 to $2,078 | 87 | 814 |
| Missouri | $1,589 | $1,395 to $1,957 | 154 | 1,750 |
| Michigan | $1,575 | $1,265 to $1,920 | 205 | 1,546 |
| Ohio | $1,570 | $1,249 to $1,958 | 127 | 1,377 |
| Texas | $1,563 | $1,292 to $1,950 | 2,083 | 40,054 |
| New Mexico | $1,505 | $1,250 to $1,819 | 182 | 1,667 |
| Indiana | $1,469 | $1,199 to $1,770 | 151 | 2,189 |
| Arkansas | $1,372 | $1,165 to $1,725 | 85 | 820 |
| Alabama | $1,345 | $1,110 to $1,693 | 140 | 1,497 |
| Oklahoma | $1,324 | $1,137 to $1,602 | 121 | 951 |
| Louisiana | $1,200 | $998 to $1,657 | 82 | 762 |
| Mississippi | $1,200 | $1,030 to $1,370 | 60 | 505 |
| Iowa | $1,150 | $950 to $1,397 | 126 | 759 |
15 additional states are below the 50-property threshold today. More states and data coming as coverage expands.
The full price distribution
A single national average flattens that spread. The histogram below bins every live listing into $500-wide price bands. The mean of $2,075 sits above the median of $1,829 because a luxury tail pulls the average up.
Where the market actually sits
The biggest bucket is $1,400 to $2,000, holding 37.3% of 139,979 tracked units.
| Price band | Units | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1,000 | 6,234 | 4.5% |
| $1,000 to $1,400 | 24,334 | 17.4% |
| $1,400 to $2,000 | 52,150 | 37.3% |
| $2,000 to $3,000 | 39,582 | 28.3% |
| $3,000 to $4,000 | 11,795 | 8.4% |
| $4,000 to $5,000 | 3,497 | 2.5% |
| $5,000 and up | 2,387 | 1.7% |
Rent by bedroom count
Median asking rent broken out by studio, one, two, and three bedrooms, the number most renters budget against.
Rent by bedroom count
Quartiles show where the middle 50% of each bedroom bucket lives. A wide P25 to P75 spread means the market is bimodal, value plus luxury, rather than clustered around one number.
Each bar spans the 25th to 75th percentile (the middle 50% of rents); the dot marks the median.
| Size | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,394 | $1,727 | $2,259 | 15,126 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,370 | $1,688 | $2,173 | 60,586 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,579 | $1,990 | $2,696 | 52,057 |
| 3 bedroom | $1,714 | $2,195 | $2,895 | 10,801 |
| 4+ bedroom | $1,109 | $1,719 | $2,789 | 1,409 |
Seven months of real movement
The month-by-month national median across the 7 months tracked so far; the series extends every month until it spans a full year. Quarter over quarter the median moved +0.2%. Index publishers smooth this line; the raw monthly medians below do not sit flat.
Median rent over the last 7 months
Real monthly medians. No seasonal adjustment. No index smoothing.
The dashed line is our own series run through a 3-month average to show how index smoothing flattens real movement. It is not a third-party index.
Showing 7 months of available history.
Against Zillow ZORI and RentCafe
Our live-listing median next to the most recent public figures from Zillow's ZORI and RentCafe's national average. Each gap comes from how that source builds its number.
Side by side: our live-listing data vs. the big indexes
Every row shows what our 139,979 live units currently say, and what Zillow's ZORI model or RentCafe's Yardi feed said the last time we checked their public pages (March 2026).
| Metric | average-rent.com | Zillow ZORI | RentCafe | Gap vs ZORI | Gap vs RentCafe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US median asking rent (all beds) | $1,829 | $2,054 | $1,845 | -11.0% | -0.9% |
| Our figure is the 50th percentile of live listings. ZORI is a statistical estimate. RentCafe is a property-management database average. | |||||
| US median, 1-bedroom | $1,688 | not published | $1,721 | — | -1.9% |
| Zillow does not publish a national 1BR breakout on its public consumer page. RentCafe does. | |||||
| US median, 2-bedroom | $1,990 | not published | $2,072 | — | -4.0% |
| Same as above: Zillow keeps bedroom splits inside the report; RentCafe publishes a number. | |||||
What the ZORI gap tells you
If our figure sits above ZORI, the market of currently-listed units is richer than Zillow's modeled "typical rent" for the middle of the market. If it sits below, we are capturing more of the longer-tail, cheaper supply. Neither is wrong. They measure different things.
What the RentCafe gap tells you
RentCafe's number is weighted toward the Yardi-managed professional-apartment inventory. It tends to run below our median in markets where Class A purpose-built inventory is a smaller share of what is available to rent today.
Competitor figures last verified March 2026 against Zillow's public research page and RentCafe's national average apartment rent chart. Zillow, ZORI, RentCafe, and Yardi are trademarks of their respective owners.
The rent-to-income reality check
Median asking rent joined to Census median household income, by city. Rows in rose are markets where the typical household exceeds the federal 30% cost-burdened threshold to rent the typical apartment.
Rent-to-income reality check
Annual rent divided by Census median household income for the same city. The federal cost-burdened threshold is 30%. Shaded rows are over.
| City | Avg rent | Annual rent | Median income | Burden |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA | $3,090 | $37,080 | $80,366 | 46.1% |
| Houston, TX | $2,091 | $25,092 | $62,894 | 39.9% |
| San Antonio, TX | $2,020 | $24,240 | $62,917 | 38.5% |
| Albany, NY | $1,898 | $22,776 | $59,485 | 38.3% |
| Orlando, FL | $2,059 | $24,708 | $69,268 | 35.7% |
| Nashville, TN | $2,222 | $26,664 | $75,197 | 35.5% |
| Atlanta, GA | $2,267 | $27,204 | $81,938 | 33.2% |
| Charlotte, NC | $2,151 | $25,812 | $78,438 | 32.9% |
| Dallas, TX | $1,826 | $21,912 | $67,760 | 32.3% |
| Minneapolis, MN | $2,139 | $25,668 | $80,269 | 32.0% |
| Seattle, WA | $3,167 | $38,004 | $121,984 | 31.2% |
| Albuquerque, NM | $1,576 | $18,912 | $65,604 | 28.8% |
| Denver, CO | $2,105 | $25,260 | $91,681 | 27.6% |
| Denton, TX | $1,687 | $20,244 | $73,719 | 27.5% |
| Austin, TX | $2,031 | $24,372 | $91,461 | 26.6% |
| Alexandria, VA | $2,420 | $29,040 | $113,638 | 25.6% |
| Addison, TX | $1,677 | $20,124 | $82,858 | 24.3% |
| Arlington, TX | $1,386 | $16,632 | $73,519 | 22.6% |
| Lewisville, TX | $1,593 | $19,116 | $85,002 | 22.5% |
| Cary, NC | $2,010 | $24,120 | $129,399 | 18.6% |
How we compute this
How we calculate this, and why it differs from Zillow and RentCafe
Every number on this page comes from a live asking price we collected from an apartment community's own leasing website, the same page a prospective tenant would see. We do not apply a statistical model. We do not survey landlords. We publish what is on the market right now, refreshed every morning.
Today that means 139,979 individual units across 10,164 properties in 1147 cities, including studios to 4+ bedrooms.
Zillow's ZORI is a model, not a listing
The Zillow Observed Rent Index estimates the typical rent for the middle of the market in a given region, using a statistical model that weights repeat rentals across Zillow's listing database. It is useful for long-horizon macro comparisons. It is not a count of actual listed units. A ZORI figure reflects Zillow's estimate of the market, not the raw asking prices available to rent today.
RentCafe's public chart smooths the movement away
RentCafe publishes a national average apartment rent drawn from Yardi's property-management database. The published chart reads as a near-flat line from mid 2023 through early 2026, which is an artifact of how averages and index smoothing erase the monthly signal. Raw month-to-month medians across live listings do not sit flat for two and a half years. If you ran a landlord portfolio, you would never price at the index.
NMHC Quick Facts is the industry-size citation, not a rent figure
The National Multifamily Housing Council's Quick Facts page is the gold-standard reference for the size of the apartment industry: roughly 23.4 million apartment homes in 5+ unit buildings nationwide, around 39.1 million apartment renters, and a national vacancy rate updated quarterly. Those are the right numbers for industry-scale framing. They are not asking-rent figures, and they update on an annual or quarterly cadence rather than daily. We pair the NMHC totals with our live-listing coverage on a dedicated page so the seam between the two is explicit. Cite NMHC for the universe; cite us for the live asking price inside it.
What you get here instead
- The raw distribution: 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile asking rents. Indices collapse this to one number.
- Bedroom-by-bedroom quartiles so you can see what a studio actually rents for versus a 2 bedroom.
- Live city rankings, not metro-level aggregates that hide intra-market variance.
- Unsmoothed month-to-month medians, including the outlier months indices normally average out.
- A refresh timestamp on every chart, so you always know how stale what you are reading is.
Zillow, ZORI, and RentCafe are trademarks of their respective owners. This comparison is offered as methodology context. Ratings refer to public methodology documentation as of April 2026.
Cite this data
Free to reference with attribution. Data reflects the September 2026 refresh.
Source: Average Rent (average-rent.com), September 2026. Average Rent. (September 2026). US National Rent Report (September 2026). Retrieved from https://average-rent.com/rent-report/ Source: <a href="https://average-rent.com/rent-report/">Average Rent</a>, September 2026. Republish a chart or the headline number
Journalists, bloggers, and researchers are free to reference this report with attribution. Drop the live national-rent widget into any page with the snippet below, or visit the press and data kit for more embeds, downloadable charts, and topline statistics. The full US rent trends page, the interactive map, and every research report carry the underlying detail.