The median monthly rent for all apartment types in the U.S. has stabilized since 2022, despite some seasonal fluctuations. In August 2025, the monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment amounted to ***** U.S. dollars. That was an increase from ***** U.S. dollars in January 2021, but a decline from the peak value of ***** U.S. dollars in August 2022. Where are the most expensive apartments in the U.S.? Apartment rents vary widely from state to state. To afford a two-bedroom apartment in California, for example, a renter needed to earn an average hourly wage of nearly ** U.S. dollars. This was approximately double the average wage in North Carolina and three times as much as the average wage in Arkansas. In fact, rental costs were considerably higher than the hourly minimum wage in all U.S. states. How did rents change in different states in the U.S.? In 2025, some of the most expensive states to rent an apartment only saw a moderate increase in rental prices. Nevertheless, rents increased in most states as of August 2025. In West Virginia, the annual rental growth was the highest, at ***** percent.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Rent of Primary Residence in U.S. City Average (CUSR0000SEHA) from Jan 1981 to Aug 2025 about primary, rent, urban, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

The monthly median asking rent for unfurnished apartments in the United States in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to ***** U.S. dollars. This was an increase of about *** U.S. dollars in just five years. In 2020, the median rent stood at ***** U.S. dollars. 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 2025, 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.

View quarterly updates and historical trends for US Median Asking Rent. from United States. Source: Census Bureau. Track economic data with YCharts analyt…

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.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR
Rent Payments (EC8)

FULL MEASURE NAME
Median rent payment

LAST UPDATED
January 2023

DESCRIPTION
Rent payments refer to the cost of leasing an apartment or home and serves as a measure of housing costs for individuals who do not own a home. The data reflect the median monthly rent paid by Bay Area households across apartments and homes of various sizes and various levels of quality. This differs from advertised rents for available apartments, which usually are higher. Note that rent can be presented using nominal or real (inflation-adjusted) dollar values; data are presented inflation-adjusted to reflect changes in household purchasing power over time.

DATA SOURCE
U.S. Census Bureau: Decennial Census - https://nhgis.org
Count 2 (1970)
Form STF1 (1980-1990)
Form SF3a (2000)

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey - https://data.census.gov/
Form B25058 (2005-2021; median contract rent)

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index - https://www.bls.gov/data/
1970-2021

CONTACT INFORMATION
vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator)
Rent data reflects median rent payments rather than list rents (refer to measure definition above). American Community Survey 1-year data is used for larger geographies – Bay counties and most metropolitan area counties – while smaller geographies rely upon 5-year rolling average data due to their smaller sample sizes. Note that 2020 data uses the 5-year estimates because the ACS did not collect 1-year data for 2020.

1970 Census data for median rent payments has been imputed from quintiles using methodology from California Department of Finance as the source data only provided the mean, rather than the median, monthly rent. Metro area boundaries reflects today’s metro area definitions by county for consistency, rather than historical metro area boundaries.

Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how rent payments have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) 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.

Rent estimates at the 50th percentile (or median) are calculated for all Fair Market Rent areas. Fair Market Rents (FMRs) are primarily used to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher program, to determine initial renewal rents for some expiring project-based Section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab), and to serve as a rent ceiling in the HOME rental assistance program. FMRs are gross rent estimates. They include the shelter rent plus the cost of all tenant-paid utilities, except telephones, cable or satellite television service, and internet service. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annually estimates FMRs for 530 metropolitan areas and 2,045 nonmetropolitan county FMR areas. Under certain conditions, as set forth in the Interim Rule (Federal Register Vol. 65, No. 191, Monday October 2, 2000, pages 58870-58875), these 50th percentile rents can be used to set success rate payment standards.

Price to Rent Ratio in the United States increased to 134.20 in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 133.60 in the third quarter of 2024. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Price to Rent Ratio.

Rent Inflation in the United States decreased to 3.60 percent in August from 3.70 percent in July of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Rent Inflation.

The average monthly rent of apartments in California increased substantially 2021, followed by a period of stabilization. In May 2024, the average rent of a two-bedroom apartment cost over ***** U.S. dollars, up from ***** U.S. dollars in December 2020 before rents started to rise. Nevertheless, not all cities saw rents rise at the same pace.

United States Median Asking Monthly Rent data was reported at 1,003.000 USD in Sep 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 951.000 USD for Jun 2018. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent data is updated quarterly, averaging 588.000 USD from Mar 1988 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 123 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,003.000 USD in Sep 2018 and a record low of 330.000 USD in Mar 1988. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by US Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.EB009: Median Asking Monthly Rent.

The average monthly rent in California for a two-bedroom apartment was ***** U.S. dollars in 2025, while a one-bedroom unit cost ******U.S. dollars. Only renters who earn the area median income (AMI) can afford two-bedroom housing in California. Rent affordable to renters with full-time jobs at mean renter wage, or 30 percent area median income, was lower than the fair market rent of a two-bedroom and one-bedroom apartment in California, making this housing in this state not affordable for them. The rent in California ranked highest among all other states in the United States for a two bedroom apartment in 2025.

Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, the decennial census is the official source of population totals for April 1st of each decennial year. In between censuses, the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities, and towns and estimates of housing units and the group quarters population for states and counties..Information about the American Community Survey (ACS) can be found on the ACS website. Supporting documentation including code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing, and a full list of ACS tables and table shells (without estimates) can be found on the Technical Documentation section of the ACS website.Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section..Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.ACS data generally reflect the geographic boundaries of legal and statistical areas as of January 1 of the estimate year. For more information, see Geography Boundaries by Year..Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see ACS Technical Documentation). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables..Users must consider potential differences in geographic boundaries, questionnaire content or coding, or other methodological issues when comparing ACS data from different years. Statistically significant differences shown in ACS Comparison Profiles, or in data users' own analysis, may be the result of these differences and thus might not necessarily reflect changes to the social, economic, housing, or demographic characteristics being compared. For more information, see Comparing ACS Data..Households not paying cash rent are excluded from the calculation of median gross rent..Estimates of urban and rural populations, housing units, and characteristics reflect boundaries of urban areas defined based on 2020 Census data. As a result, data for urban and rural areas from the ACS do not necessarily reflect the results of ongoing urbanization..Explanation of Symbols:- The estimate could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations. For a ratio of medians estimate, one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution. For a 5-year median estimate, the margin of error associated with a median was larger than the median itself.N The estimate or margin of error cannot be displayed because there were an insufficient number of sample cases in the selected geographic area. (X) The estimate or margin of error is not applicable or not available.median- The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "2,500-")median+ The median falls in the highest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "250,000+").** The margin of error could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations.*** The margin of error could not be computed because the median falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution.***** A margin of error is not appropriate because the corresponding estimate is controlled to an independent population or housing estimate. Effectively, the corresponding estimate has no sampling error and the margin of error may be treated as zero.

United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: South data was reported at 973.000 USD in Sep 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 928.000 USD for Jun 2018. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: South data is updated quarterly, averaging 551.000 USD from Mar 1988 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 123 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 973.000 USD in Sep 2018 and a record low of 298.000 USD in Jun 1989. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: South data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by US Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.EB009: Median Asking Monthly Rent.

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 ***** U.S. dollars, while in San Francisco, CA which ranked second highest, renters paid on average ***** U.S. dollars.

United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: Midwest data was reported at 770.000 USD in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 764.000 USD for Mar 2018. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: Midwest data is updated quarterly, averaging 522.000 USD from Mar 1988 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 122 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 770.000 USD in Jun 2018 and a record low of 297.000 USD in Jun 1989. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: Midwest data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by US Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.EB009: Median Asking Monthly Rent.

In 2025, the average monthly rent affordable to a family of four with a household income at the poverty line was 804 U.S. dollars. However, the average fair market rent for a two-bedroom rental home was 1,749 U.S. dollars per month in that year.

United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: North East data was reported at 1,210.000 USD in Sep 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,134.000 USD for Jun 2018. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: North East data is updated quarterly, averaging 678.000 USD from Mar 1988 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 123 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,279.000 USD in Mar 2018 and a record low of 406.000 USD in Jun 1988. United States Median Asking Monthly Rent: North East data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by US Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.EB009: Median Asking Monthly Rent.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Owners' Equivalent Rent of Primary Residence in U.S. City Average (CUUR0000SEHC01) from Dec 1982 to Aug 2025 about primary, rent, urban, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

Rents in California's most populous cities briefly decreased in 2020, but swiftly headed for recovery in the following year. In San Jose, the average rent amounted to ***** U.S. dollars in May 2024, higher than the previous peak of ***** U.S. dollars in August 2019. In May 2024, the average monthly rent of a two-bedroom apartment in California was close to ***** U.S. dollars.