Amsterdam is set to maintain its position as Europe's most expensive city for apartment rentals in 2025, with median costs reaching 2,500 euros per month for a furnished one-bedroom unit. This figure is double the rent in Prague and significantly higher than other major European capitals like Paris, Berlin, and Madrid. The stark difference in rental costs across European cities reflects broader economic trends, housing policies, and the complex interplay between supply and demand in urban centers. Factors driving rental costs across Europe The disparity in rental prices across European cities can be attributed to various factors. In countries like Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, a higher proportion of the population lives in rental housing. This trend contributes to increased demand and potentially higher living costs in these nations. Conversely, many Eastern and Southern European countries have homeownership rates exceeding 90 percent, which may help keep rental prices lower in those regions. Housing affordability and market dynamics The relationship between housing prices and rental rates varies significantly across Europe. As of 2024, countries like Turkey, Iceland, Portugal, and Hungary had the highest house price to rent ratio indices. This indicates a widening gap between property values and rental costs since 2015. The affordability of homeownership versus renting differs greatly among European nations, with some countries experiencing rapid increases in property values that outpace rental growth. These market dynamics influence rental costs and contribute to the diverse rental landscape observed across European cities.

Displacement risk indicator classifying census tracts according to apartment rent prices in census tracts. We classify apartment rent along two dimensions:The median rents within the census tract for the specified year, balancing between nominal rental price and rental price per square foot.The change in median rent price (again balanced between nominal rent price and price per square foot) from the previous year.Note: Median rent calculations include market-rate and mixed-income multifamily apartment properties with 5 or more rental units in Seattle, excluding special types like student, senior, corporate or military housing.Source: Data from CoStar Group, www.costar.com, prepared by City of Seattle, Office of Planning and Community Development

Apartment rents in two states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. exceeded ***** U.S. dollars in April 2025. In Hawaii, the median rent was about ***** U.S. dollars, nearly *** U.S. dollars higher than the national average. At the other end of the spectrum was Nebraska, where renters paid about ***** U.S. dollars for the median new lease. Overall, most states saw rental rates increase year-on-year.

Revenue for apartment lessors has expanded through the end of 2025. Apartment lessors collect rental income from rental properties, where market forces largely determine their rates. The supply of apartment rentals has grown slower than demand, which has elevated rental rates for lessors' benefit. As the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates 11 times between March 2022 and January 2024, homeownership was pushed beyond the reach of many, resulting in a tighter supply and increased demand for rental properties. Despite three interest rate cuts in 2024, mortgage rates have remained high, further encouraging consumers to rent. Revenue has climbed at a CAGR of 2.9% over the past five years and is expected to reach $299.7 billion by the end of 2025. This includes an anticipated 3.0% gain in 2025 alone. The increasing unaffordability of housing is caused by the steady climb of mortgage rates and high prices maintained by a low supply. Supply has been held down as buyers who locked in low rates stay put, and investment groups hold a strategic number of their properties empty as investments. Industry profit has remained elevated because of solid demand for apartment rentals. Through the end of 2030, the apartment rental industry's future performance is likely to be shaped by varying factors. The apartment supply in the US, which hit a record in 2024, is expected to taper off, which will, in turn, push rental prices and occupancy rates up to the lessors' benefit. Other factors, such as further interest rate cuts, decreasing financial barriers to homeownership, and a high rate of urbanization, will also significantly impact the industry. Wth approximately 80.7% of the US population living in urban areas, demand for apartment rentals will strengthen, although rising rental prices could force potential renters to cheaper suburbs. Demand will continue to outpace supply growth, prompting a climb in revenue. Revenue is expected to swell at a CAGR of 2.8% over the next five years, reaching an estimated $344.3 billion in 2030.

The monthly median asking rent for unfurnished apartments in the United States rose by about ** U.S. dollars in 2024. In the third quarter of 2024, the median rent amounted to ***** U.S. dollars, up from ***** U.S. dollars in 2023. This increase was in line with a decade of steady growth, interrupted only in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2023. The U.S. rental market As rental apartment vacancy rates fall, rents are on the rise. This makes it more difficult for Americans to, first, find an apartment to rent, and second, find an apartment which they can afford. Nevertheless, renting has become much more common in recent years, with the number of renter households having substantially increased in the past two decades. In 2024, there were approximately **** million renter households in the U.S. Rents in different states Of course, rents vary from state to state. The most expensive rents are found in Hawaii, California, District of Colombia, New Jersey, and Florida. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, growth was the strongest in the Sun Belt states, and especially in states with lower costs of living, such as Texas. In Austin, TX, the average rent soared by nearly ** percent in 2021, and remained elevated, despite a slight decline in 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Rent of Primary Residence in U.S. City Average (CUUR0000SEHA) from Dec 1914 to May 2025 about primary, rent, urban, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Rental Vacancy Rate in the United States (RRVRUSQ156N) from Q1 1956 to Q1 2025 about vacancy, rent, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Rental Vacancy Rate for the United States (USRVAC) from 1986 to 2024 about vacancy, rent, rate, and USA.

The median rents within the census tract for the specified year, balancing between nominal rental price and rental price per square foot.The change in median rent price (again balanced between nominal rent price and price per square foot) from the previous year.Note: Median rent calculations include market-rate and mixed-income multifamily apartment properties with 5 or more rental units in Seattle, excluding special types like student, senior, corporate or military housing.

An experimental price index tracking the prices paid for renting property from private landlords in the United Kingdom

The median rent for one- and two-bedroom apartments in Chicago, Illinois, amounted to about 1,663 U.S. dollars in January 2025. Rents soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, with February 2022 experiencing the highest year-on-year increase of nearly 16 percent. Growth has since mellowed, with the average rental increase amounting to 1.7 percent in January 2025. Among the different states, Illinois ranked alongside Texas, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania in terms of rental costs.

The median rent for one- and two-bedroom apartments in Los Angeles, California, amounted to about 2,057 U.S. dollars in January 2025. Rents soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, with rental growth hitting 16.5 percent in March 2022. This trend has since reversed, with growth turning negative in May 2023. Among the different states in the U.S., California ranks as the second most expensive rental market after Hawaii.

This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (247 items: Carbonear; Newfoundland and Labrador; Corner Brook; Newfoundland and Labrador; Grand Falls-Windsor; Newfoundland and Labrador; Gander; Newfoundland and Labrador ...), Type of structure (4 items: Apartment structures of three units and over; Apartment structures of six units and over; Row and apartment structures of three units and over; Row structures of three units and over ...), Type of unit (4 items: Two bedroom units; Three bedroom units; One bedroom units; Bachelor units ...).

Switzerland Real Estate Price Index: Central Swiss: Rental Apartment data was reported at 545.258 1970=100 in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 555.744 1970=100 for 2015. Switzerland Real Estate Price Index: Central Swiss: Rental Apartment data is updated yearly, averaging 367.689 1970=100 from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2016, with 47 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 563.858 1970=100 in 2014 and a record low of 100.000 1970=100 in 1970. Switzerland Real Estate Price Index: Central Swiss: Rental Apartment data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Swiss National Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Switzerland – Table CH.EB002: Real Estate Price Index: By Region: Residential: Annual. Rebased from 1970=100 to 2000=100 Replacement series ID: 388330597

Rent Inflation in the United States decreased to 3.90 percent in May from 4 percent in April of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Rent Inflation.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR List Rents (EC9)

FULL MEASURE NAME List Rents

LAST UPDATED October 2016

DESCRIPTION List rent refers to the advertised rents for available rental housing and serves as a measure of housing costs for new households moving into a neighborhood, city, county or region.

DATA SOURCE real Answers (1994 – 2015) no link

Zillow Metro Median Listing Price All Homes (2010-2016) http://www.zillow.com/research/data/

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) List rents data reflects median rent prices advertised for available apartments rather than median rent payments; more information is available in the indicator definition above. Regional and local geographies rely on data collected by real Answers, a research organization and database publisher specializing in the multifamily housing market. real Answers focuses on collecting longitudinal data for individual rental properties through quarterly surveys. For the Bay Area, their database is comprised of properties with 40 to 3,000+ housing units. Median list prices most likely have an upward bias due to the exclusion of smaller properties. The bias may be most extreme in geographies where large rental properties represent a small portion of the overall rental market. A map of the individual properties surveyed is included in the Local Focus section.

Individual properties surveyed provided lower- and upper-bound ranges for the various types of housing available (studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, etc.). Median lower- and upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the regional and county geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the average of the median lower- and upper-bound prices for the region and counties. Median upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the city geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the median upper-bound price for cities. For simplicity, only the mean list rent is displayed for the individual properties. The metro areas geography rely upon Zillow data, which is the median price for rentals listed through www.zillow.com during the month. Like the real Answers data, Zillow's median list prices most likely have an upward bias since small properties are underrepresented in Zillow's listings. The metro area data for the Bay Area cannot be compared to the regional Bay Area data. Due to afore mentioned data limitations, this data is suitable for analyzing the change in list rents over time but not necessarily comparisons of absolute list rents. Metro area boundaries reflects today’s metro area definitions by county for consistency, rather than historical metro area boundaries.

Due to the limited number of rental properties surveyed, city-level data is unavailable for Atherton, Belvedere, Brisbane, Calistoga, Clayton, Cloverdale, Cotati, Fairfax, Half Moon Bay, Healdsburg, Hillsborough, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Moranga, Oakley, Orinda, Portola Valley, Rio Vista, Ross, San Anselmo, San Carlos, Saratoga, Sebastopol, Windsor, Woodside, and Yountville.

Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how rents have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index does create some challenges given the fact that housing represents a major chunk of consumer goods bundle used to calculate CPI. This reflects a methodological tradeoff between precision and accuracy and is a common concern when working with any commodity that is a major component of CPI itself. Percent change in inflation-adjusted median is calculated with respect to the median price from the fourth quarter or December of the base year.

This statistic presents the monthly rental prices for a furnished two-room apartment in selected European cities as of 2015. London led the ranking, with an average price per typically sized newly-built apartment amounting up to 2,840 U.S. dollars. It was followed closely by Geneva, with the monthly rental cost of 2,810 U.S. dollars.

In 2024, New York, NY, was the most expensive rental market for one-bedroom apartments in the United States. The median monthly rental rate of an apartment in New York was 4,280 U.S. dollars, while in San Francisco, CA which ranked second highest, renters paid on average 3,160 U.S. dollars.

As of January 2025, the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Hawaii was about 120 U.S. dollars higher than in California. The states of Hawaii and California ranked as the most expensive within the United States for apartment renters. Conversely, an apartment in Arkansas was almost three times more affordable than one in Hawaii.In 2025, the average monthly rent in the U.S. declined slightly. Nevertheless, in rents increased in most states, with West Virginia registering the highest growth.

The global rental housing market is experiencing robust growth, driven by several key factors. Urbanization and population growth are fueling increased demand for rental properties, particularly in densely populated areas. Changing lifestyles, with more people opting for flexible living arrangements and avoiding the commitment of homeownership, are further bolstering the market. Technological advancements, including online platforms like Zillow, Airbnb, and Ziru, are streamlining the rental process, improving efficiency, and enhancing transparency for both landlords and tenants. Furthermore, the rise of co-living spaces and flexible lease options caters to evolving renter preferences. While economic fluctuations and interest rate hikes can present challenges, the underlying demand remains strong, indicating sustained growth for the foreseeable future. We estimate the market size in 2025 to be $2 trillion based on publicly available data for comparable real estate sectors and considering the global spread of rental housing. This robust growth trajectory is projected to continue, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately 5% through 2033. However, challenges exist within the rental housing market. Regulatory changes related to rent control and tenant protection can impact profitability for landlords. Maintaining property quality and addressing concerns regarding affordability, especially in rapidly growing urban centers, pose ongoing difficulties. Competition among rental platforms and property management companies is fierce, necessitating ongoing innovation and adaptation to retain market share. Despite these headwinds, the long-term outlook remains positive. The increasing preference for rental accommodation, combined with ongoing technological advancements, suggests a sustained and expansive market with significant opportunities for both established players and new entrants. The market segmentation reflects varying needs, from luxury apartments to budget-friendly options, providing ample opportunities across different income levels and lifestyle preferences.