The median rent for one- and two-bedroom apartments in Houston, Texas, increased steadily during the COVID-19 pandemic, but started to decline in late 2023. In January 2025, the average rent in Houston was ***** U.S. dollars. That was a decrease of *** percent year-on-year. Overall, Texas ranks as one of the mid-price range rental markets in the U.S.

The average monthly asking rent per square foot of shopping center real estate in the leading markets in Texas increased between 2020 and 2024. Although this trend was observed in all four major markets, Austin recorded the highest rent in 2024, at **** U.S. dollars per square foot. This was higher than both the national average and the average for the South region.

The annual taking rent of industrial big box buildings in Houston, Texas, increased notably in 2023. In the second half of the year, a square foot of big box space cost **** U.S. dollars, up from **** U.S. dollars the year before. Big-box refers to large industrial buildings used for distribution. Despite the increase in rental rates, Houston had lower than the average big-box rent in North America.

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.