Year-over-year rent growth continued to slow in December. The 4.77 percent increase was the lowest yearly change since July 2021 and represents the fourth consecutive month of single digit increases. It bests the previous recent low from November by more than 2.5 points. Yearly increases in that month were up 7.45 percent.
After a slight increase in month-over-month prices in November, near-term rent levels declined in December. Rents decreased 1.41 percent from November to December, the steepest decline since rents began sliding on a month-over-month basis. In September, when the slide began, prices were down nearly 2.5 percent. These decreases pushed the national median price for an apartment back below $2,000 to $1,978, the lowest median price since April 2022.
These declines in both monthly and yearly growth rates are being driven by broad trends across the rental industry, including increased vacancy rates, new inventory, a cooling housing market and seasonal demand below normal levels. While these developments will be welcomed by renters, a longer-term view gives perspective on just how high rents have risen.
In December 2021, yearly growth was up 14.56 percent, but median prices were a full $90 less than today. And in December 2020, the median rent price was $1,649, a $329 savings compared to today which represents a 19.95 percent increase over just two years.
Let’s look at where rent prices stand today.
National rent price trends
Prices decreased between November and December by 1.41 percent, pushing the median price back below $2,000. Prices first rose above the $2,000 mark in May 2022, and have remained there since. The only exception being October which came in at $1982.
Year-over-year growth continued to slow in December with yearly growth below 5 percent for the first time in 17 months. It was the fourth consecutive month of single-digit increases. Yearly growth sustained double-digit increases for 11 months from October 2021 through September 2022, peaking at more than 17.5 percent in March 2022.
| Rental Market Summary | December 2022 | Month-Over-Month | Year-Over-Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Monthly Rent | $1,978 | -1.41% | 4.77% |
State rent price trends
At the state level, median rents were down month over month in over half of the markets in this study. New York saw the largest monthly decrease at 5.15 percent decrease despite more than 20 percent growth year over year. Washington saw a nearly 4 percent drop along with five other states that saw monthly declines greater than the national median — Oklahoma, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Oregon.
Ten states saw decreases year-over-year in rent prices led by Idaho, Nevada and Arizona. Fifteen states saw yearly increases in the double digits, and another nine increased at rates higher than the national median.
| Rental Market Summary | Markets Up | Markets Down |
|---|---|---|
| Year-over-Year (December ’21 vs’22) | 76.74% | 23.26% |
| Month-over-Month (November vs December) | 46.51% | 53.49% |
Year-over-year state increases
With relatively cheaper rents and high levels of inbound migration, the most significant yearly increases came mostly from Southern states. Six of the ten largest yearly increases were from the region. Two Midwestern states, South Dakota (17.9 percent) and Nebraska (12.6 percent), also saw significant yearly increases. New York (20.1 percent) was the only Northeastern state among the ten fastest-growing markets, while Utah (12.1 percent) was the only Western state.
- Florida (+23.9 percent)
- New York (+20.1 percent)
- South Dakota (+17.9 percent)
- Arkansas (+17.5 percent)
- Delaware (+14.5 percent)
- Tennessee (+14.2 percent)
- Mississippi (+13.2 percent)
- Nebraska (+12.6 percent)
- North Carolina (+12.2 percent)
- Utah (+12.1 percent)
Year-over-year state decreases
Ten states saw rent prices decrease year over year in December. The four largest decreases all came from Western states. Rents in Idaho fell for the third month in a row. Its 5.4 percent drop was the largest among all states in this study. Nevada’s yearly drop was lower than last month’s (-3.8 percent), moving it to number two on the list. Arizona and Oregon each saw decreases close to 2.5 percent. The remaining six states all registered yearly decreases of less than 1.5 percent.
- Idaho (-5.4 percent)
- Nevada (-2.7 percent)
- Arizona (-2.5 percent)
- Oregon (-2.4 percent)
- Virginia (-1.2 percent)
- Maryland (-1.1 percent)
- Pennsylvania (-0.7 percent)
- Georgia (-0.6 percent)
- Minnesota (-0.3 percent)
- Washington (-0.1 percent)
Metro areas rent price trends
Among the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas, Salt Lake City, UT saw the largest yearly increase in rents at 29.8 percent. It was joined by Raleigh-Cary, NC as the only metros with increases above 20 percent. In total, six metros saw double-digit increases year over year.
Fourteen metros saw year-over-year price declines. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI saw the biggest drop at 8.6 percent, followed by Oklahoma City at 6.4 percent, and the Phoenix metro at 5.0 percent. Five more metros saw decreases at or above 2.0 percent.
The following metro areas have experienced the biggest increase in rent prices year over year.
- Salt Lake City, UT, (+29.8 percent)
- Raleigh-Cary, NC (+24.0 percent)
- Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN (+16.3 percent)
- Cleveland-Elyria, OH (+14.6 percent)
- Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN (+11.7 percent)
- Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC (+10.6 percent)
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY (+9.6 percent)
- Kansas City, MO (+9.4 percent)
- Columbus, OH (+7.7 percent)
- St. Louis, MO (+7.4 percent)
The following metro areas have experienced decreases in rent prices year over year.
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (-8.6 percent)
- Oklahoma City, OK (-6.4 percent)
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ (-5.0 percent)
- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX (-4.6 percent)
- Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI (-4.1 percent)
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (-3.6 percent)
- Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD (-2.1 percent)
- Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX (-2.0 percent)
- Birmingham-Hoover, AL (-1.8 percent)
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (-1.5 percent)
Rental industry trends
In addition to our pricing trends, here are a few key industry developments.
1. Rental application fees burden future renters
With every apartment application comes a rental application fee — anywhere between $35 and $100. If you’re trying to see and get approved for an apartment, it’s a numbers game but those fees add up and they are often non-refundable.
“Black and Latinx renters were nearly twice as likely to report submitting five or more applications, and that people of color reported paying a higher median application fee than white renters,” reports NPR.
In California and a few other states, there’s been a push for limiting application fees and one basic screening that’s good for 30 days.
2. Protection from extreme weather is key
As climate change brings extreme weather everywhere in the U.S., a study looked to find the safest states. The ConsumerAffairs study found that Delaware, Rhode Island and Hawaii had the smallest number of disaster declarations with FEMA since 2017.
“Especially as rent prices continue to rise, renters are putting more value into feeling secure and protected under their lease,” Cassidy McCants, deputy editor at ConsumerAffairs told The New York Times. Delaware and Hawaii also were the most secure states when it came to laws benefiting renters over landlords.
About this report
Our January 2022 Rent Report highlights year-over-year rent trends and price fluctuations that renters may experience in various parts of the United States. We compare rent prices across bedroom types to determine which of the country’s most populated metros are becoming more affordable or more expensive for renters. States and metros with insufficient inventory are excluded from this report.
| CBSA | Population | Median Rent | YoY % Change | MoM % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City, UT | 1,263,061 | $2,256 | 29.77% | 17.69% |
| Raleigh, NC | 1,448,411 | $2,133 | 23.98% | 1.56% |
| Indianapolis, IN | 2,126,804 | $1,492 | 16.34% | -0.37% |
| Cleveland, OH | 2,075,662 | $1,568 | 14.60% | 3.02% |
| Nashville, TN | 2,012,476 | $2,099 | 11.65% | 1.41% |
| Charlotte, NC | 2,701,046 | $1,906 | 10.59% | 0.87% |
| Buffalo, NY | 1,162,336 | $1,612 | 9.58% | 3.58% |
| Kansas City, MO | 2,199,490 | $1,523 | 9.43% | 3.01% |
| Columbus, OH | 2,151,017 | $1,566 | 7.67% | 0.58% |
| St. Louis, MO | 2,809,299 | $1,554 | 7.36% | 1.49% |
| New York, NY | 19,768,458 | $4,033 | 7.10% | 0.57% |
| San Diego, CA | 3,286,069 | $3,278 | 6.09% | -1.68% |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY | 1,284,566 | $1,339 | 5.94% | 3.74% |
| Sacramento, CA | 2,411,428 | $2,717 | 5.23% | -1.00% |
| San Antonio, TX | 2,601,788 | $1,456 | 5.13% | 3.91% |
| San Jose, CA | 1,952,185 | $3,467 | 4.80% | 0.49% |
| Hartford, CT | 1,211,906 | $1,994 | 4.41% | -3.12% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 2,353,538 | $1,773 | 3.97% | -4.06% |
| Orlando, FL | 2,691,925 | $2,130 | 3.95% | 2.23% |
| Miami, FL | 6,091,747 | $3,157 | 3.94% | -3.40% |
| Providence, RI | 1,675,774 | $2,264 | 3.85% | -2.68% |
| Tampa, FL | 3,219,514 | $2,157 | 3.80% | 2.71% |
| Detroit, MI | 4,365,205 | $1,600 | 3.43% | -1.13% |
| San Francisco, CA | 4,623,264 | $3,670 | 3.23% | -0.29% |
| Richmond, VA | 1,324,062 | $1,732 | 3.16% | 0.90% |
| Portland, OR | 2,511,612 | $2,467 | 2.96% | -3.09% |
| Denver, CO | 2,972,566 | $2,758 | 2.76% | 4.38% |
| Cincinnati, OH | 2,259,935 | $1,516 | 2.73% | -2.23% |
| Seattle, WA | 4,011,553 | $2,808 | 2.50% | -6.20% |
| Memphis, TN | 1,336,103 | $1,520 | 1.52% | -3.18% |
| Atlanta, GA | 6,144,050 | $2,042 | 1.40% | 2.28% |
| Boston, MA | 4,899,932 | $3,735 | 1.34% | 2.96% |
| Washington, DC | 6,356,434 | $2,571 | 1.20% | -1.95% |
| Philadelphia, PA | 6,228,601 | $2,258 | 0.98% | -1.36% |
| Dallas, TX | 7,759,615 | $2,131 | 0.90% | 3.21% |
| Riverside, CA | 4,653,105 | $2,675 | 0.70% | -0.08% |
| Las Vegas, NV | 2,292,476 | $1,805 | -0.41% | 1.36% |
| New Orleans, LA | 1,261,726 | $1,752 | -0.44% | 5.91% |
| Jacksonville, FL | 1,637,666 | $1,595 | -0.82% | 0.85% |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 1,803,328 | $1,663 | -0.94% | -0.82% |
| Los Angeles, CA | 12,997,353 | $3,378 | -1.49% | -1.02% |
| Birmingham, AL | 1,114,262 | $1,545 | -1.80% | 0.02% |
| Austin, TX | 2,352,426 | $2,270 | -2.01% | 4.81% |
| Baltimore, MD | 2,838,327 | $1,978 | -2.12% | 0.00% |
| Chicago, IL | 9,509,934 | $2,294 | -3.62% | -0.43% |
| Milwaukee, WI | 1,566,487 | $1,657 | -4.05% | -0.81% |
| Houston, TX | 7,206,841 | $1,745 | -4.63% | 1.94% |
| Phoenix, AZ | 4,946,145 | $2,003 | -5.04% | -1.23% |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 1,441,647 | $1,173 | -6.36% | -4.88% |
| Minneapolis, MN | 3,690,512 | $1,704 | -8.55% | -4.86% |
Methodology
We analyzed rental property prices in December 2022, the last full month of data, from Rent.’s available inventory to identify our median rent prices at the national, state and metro levels. Our analysis combines inventory and bedroom types into one simple median that covers all available rental units at the time.
The top 50 metropolitan areas in our analysis are determined by U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for 2021.
More detailed information about our methodology can be found here.
The rent information included in this article is used for illustrative purposes only. The data contained herein do not constitute financial advice or a pricing guarantee for any apartment. The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or financial advice. Readers are encouraged to seek professional legal or financial advice as they may deem it necessary.
