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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Rent Inflation in the United States decreased to 3.80 percent in June from 3.90 percent in May of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Rent Inflation.

Information on median gross rents

What is Rental Data?

Rental data encompasses detailed information about residential rental properties, including single-family homes, multifamily units, and large apartment complexes. This data often includes key metrics such as rental prices, occupancy rates, property amenities, and detailed property descriptions. Advanced rental datasets integrate listings directly sourced from property management software systems, ensuring real-time accuracy and eliminating reliance on outdated or scraped information.

Additional Rental Data Details

The rental data is sourced from over 20,000 property managers via direct feeds and property management platforms, covering over 30 percent of the national rental housing market for diverse and broad representation. Real-time updates ensure data remains current, while verified listings enhance accuracy, avoiding errors typical of survey-based or scraped datasets. The dataset includes 14+ million rental units with detailed descriptions, rich photography, and amenities, offering address-level granularity for precise market analysis. Its extensive coverage of small multifamily and single-family rentals sets it apart from competitors focused on premium multifamily properties.

Rental Data Includes:

• Property Types
• Single-Family Rentals
• Small Multi-family Units
• Premium Apartments
• 16,000+ ZIP Codes
• 800+ MSAs
• Pricing Trends
• Lease Terms Amenities

This U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates data set includes information about median gross rent in a number of geographic areas ranging from statewide to census tract. The data set includes median gross rent data from 2009-2016.

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.

Zillow Properties Listing dataset to access detailed real estate listings, including property prices, locations, and features. Popular use cases include market analysis, property valuation, and investment decision-making in the real estate sector.

Use our Zillow Properties Listing Information dataset to access detailed real estate listings, including property features, pricing trends, and location insights. This dataset is perfect for real estate agents, investors, market analysts, and property developers looking to analyze housing markets, identify investment opportunities, and assess property values.

Leverage this dataset to track pricing patterns, compare property features, and forecast market trends across different regions. Whether you're evaluating investment prospects or optimizing property listings, the Zillow Properties dataset offers essential information for making data-driven real estate decisions.

Dataset Features

• zpid: Unique property identifier assigned by Zillow.
• city: The name of the city where the property is located.
• state: The state in which the property is located.
• homeStatus: Indicates the current status of the property
• address: The full address of the property, including street, city, and state.
• isListingClaimedByCurrentSignedInUser: This field shows if the current Zillow user has claimed ownership of the listing.
• isCurrentSignedInAgentResponsible: This field indicates whether the currently signed-in real estate agent is responsible for the listing.
• bedrooms: Number of bedrooms in the property.
• bathrooms: Number of bathrooms in the property.
• price: Current asking price of the property.
• yearBuilt: The year the home was originally constructed.
• streetAddress: Specific street address (usually excludes city/state/zip).
• zipcode: The postal ZIP code of the property.
• isCurrentSignedInUserVerifiedOwner: This field indicates if the signed-in user has verified ownership of the property on Zillow.
• isVerifiedClaimedByCurrentSignedInUser: Indicates whether the user has claimed and verified the listing as the current owner.
• listingDataSource: The original source of the listing. Important for data lineage and trustworthiness.
• longitude: The longitudinal geographic coordinate of the property.
• latitude: The latitudinal geographic coordinate of the property.
• hasBadGeocode: This indicates whether the geolocation data is incorrect or problematic.
• streetViewMetadataUrlMediaWallLatLong: A URL or reference to the Street View media wall based on latitude and longitude.
• streetViewMetadataUrlMediaWallAddress: A similar URL reference to the Street View, but based on the property’s address.
• streetViewServiceUrl: The base URL to Google Street View or similar services. Enables interactive visuals of the property’s surroundings.
• livingArea: Total internal living area of the home, typically in square feet.
• homeType: The category/type of the home.
• lotSize: The size of the entire lot or land the home is situated on.
• lotAreaValue: The numerical value representing the lot area is usually tied to a measurement unit.
• lotAreaUnits: Units in which the lot area is measured (e.g., sqft, acres).
• livingAreaValue: The numeric value of the property's interior living space.
• livingAreaUnitsShort: Abbreviated unit for living area (e.g., sqft), useful for compact displays.
• isUndisclosedAddress: Boolean indicating if the full property address is hidden, typically used for privacy reasons.
• zestimate: Zillow’s estimated market value of the home, generated via its proprietary model.
• rentZestimate: Zillow’s estimated rental price per month, is helpful for rental market analysis.
• currency: Currency used for price, Zestimate, and rent estimate (e.g., USD).
• hideZestimate: Indicates whether the Zestimate is hidden from public view.
• dateSoldString: The date when the property was last sold, in string format (e.g., 2022-06-15).
• taxAssessedValue: The most recent assessed value of the property for tax purposes.
• taxAssessedYear: The year in which the property was last assessed.
• country: The country where the property is located.
• propertyTaxRate: The most recent tax rate.
• photocount: This column provides a photo count of the property.
• isPremierBuilder: Boolean indicating whether the builder is listed as a premier (trusted) builder on Zillow.
• isZillowOwned: Indicates whether the property is owned or managed directly by Zillow.
• ssid: A unique internal Zillow identifier for the listing (not to be confused with network SSID).
• hdpUrl: URL to the home’s detail page on Zillow (Home Details Page).
• tourViewCount: Number of times users have viewed the property tour.
• hasPublicVideo: This

Learn More

What you get:

Upvote! The database contains +40,000 records on US Gross Rent & Geo Locations. The field description of the database is documented in the attached pdf file. To access, all 325,272 records on a scale roughly equivalent to a neighborhood (census tract) see link below and make sure to upvote. Upvote right now, please. Enjoy!

Get the full free database with coupon code: FreeDatabase, See directions at the bottom of the description... And make sure to upvote :) coupon ends at 2:00 pm 8-23-2017

Gross Rent & Geographic Statistics:

• Mean Gross Rent (double)
• Median Gross Rent (double)
• Standard Deviation of Gross Rent (double)
• Number of Samples (double)
• Square area of land at location (double)
• Square area of water at location (double)

Geographic Location:

• Longitude (double)
• Latitude (double)
• State Name (character)
• State abbreviated (character)
• State_Code (character)
• County Name (character)
• City Name (character)
• Name of city, town, village or CPD (character)
• Primary, Defines if the location is a track and block group.
• Zip Code (character)
• Area Code (character)

Abstract

The data set originally developed for real estate and business investment research. Income is a vital element when determining both quality and socioeconomic features of a given geographic location. The following data was derived from over +36,000 files and covers 348,893 location records.

License

Only proper citing is required please see the documentation for details. Have Fun!!!

Golden Oak Research Group, LLC. “U.S. Income Database Kaggle”. Publication: 5, August 2017. Accessed, day, month year.

For any questions, you may reach us at research_development@goldenoakresearch.com. For immediate assistance, you may reach me on at 585-626-2965

please note: it is my personal number and email is preferred

Check our data's accuracy: Census Fact Checker

Access all 325,272 location for Free Database Coupon Code:

Don't settle. Go big and win big. Optimize your potential**. Access all gross rent records and more on a scale roughly equivalent to a neighborhood, see link below:

• Website: Golden Oak Research make sure to upvote

A small startup with big dreams, giving the every day, up and coming data scientist professional grade data at affordable prices It's what we do.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B25077 and Table DP04; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; https://data.census.gov/cedsci/; (7 April 2025).

This dataset contains information about the percent of income households spend on rent in cities in San Mateo County. This data is for renters only, not those who live in owner-occupied homes with or without a mortgage. This data was extracted from the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2014 5 year estimates.

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.

Analysis of ‘ Zillow Housing Aspirations Report’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/yamqwe/zillow-housing-aspirations-reporte on 13 February 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

About this dataset

Additional Data Products

Product: Zillow Housing Aspirations Report

Date: April 2017

Definitions

Home Types and Housing Stock

• All Homes: Zillow defines all homes as single-family, condominium and co-operative homes with a county record. Unless specified, all series cover this segment of the housing stock.
• Condo/Co-op: Condominium and co-operative homes.
• Multifamily 5+ units: Units in buildings with 5 or more housing units, that are not a condominiums or co-ops.
• Duplex/Triplex: Housing units in buildings with 2 or 3 housing units.

Additional Data Products

• Zillow Home Value Forecast (ZHVF): The ZHVF is the one-year forecast of the ZHVI. Our forecast methodology is methodology post.
• Zillow creates our negative equity data using our own data in conjunction with data received through our partnership with TransUnion, a leading credit bureau. We match estimated home values against actual outstanding home-related debt amounts provided by TransUnion. To read more about how we calculate our negative equity metrics, please see our here.
• Cash Buyers: The share of homes in a given area purchased without financing/in cash. To read about how we calculate our cash buyer data, please see our research brief.
• Mortgage Affordability, Rental Affordability, Price-to-Income Ratio, Historical ZHVI, Historical ZHVI and Houshold Income are calculated as a part of Zillow’s quarterly Affordability Indices. To calculate mortgage affordability, we first calculate the mortgage payment for the median-valued home in a metropolitan area by using the metro-level Zillow Home Value Index for a given quarter and the 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate during that time period, provided by the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (based on a 20 percent down payment). Then, we consider what portion of the monthly median household income (U.S. Census) goes toward this monthly mortgage payment. Median household income is available with a lag. For quarters where median income is not available from the U.S. Census Bureau, we calculate future quarters of median household income by estimating it using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index. The affordability forecast is calculated similarly to the current affordability index but uses the one year Zillow Home Value Forecast instead of the current Zillow Home Value Index and a specified interest rate in lieu of PMMS. It also assumes a 20 percent down payment. We calculate rent affordability similarly to mortgage affordability; however we use the Zillow Rent Index, which tracks the monthly median rent in particular geographical regions, to capture rental prices. Rents are chained back in time by using U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data from 2006 to the start of the Zillow Rent Index, and Decennial Census for all other years.
• The mortgage rate series is the average mortgage rate quoted on Zillow Mortgages for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage in 15-minute increments during business hours, 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific. It does not include quotes for jumbo loans, FHA loans, VA loans, loans with mortgage insurance or quotes to consumers with credit scores below 720. Federal holidays are excluded. The jumbo mortgage rate series is the average jumbo mortgage rate quoted on Zillow Mortgages for a 30-year, fixed-rate, jumbo mortgage in one-hour increments during business hours, 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Time. It does not include quotes to consumers with credit scores below 720. Traditional federal holidays and hours with insufficient sample sizes are excluded.

About Zillow Data (and Terms of Use Information)

• Zillow is in the process of transitioning some data sources with the goal of producing published data that is more comprehensive, reliable, accurate and timely. As this new data is incorporated, the publication of select metrics may be delayed or temporarily suspended. We look forward to resuming our usual publication schedule for all of our established datasets as soon as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
• All data accessed and downloaded from this page is free for public use by consumers, media, analysts, academics etc., consistent with our published Terms of Use. Proper and clear attribution of all data to Zillow is required.
• For other data requests or inquiries for Zillow Real Estate Research, contact us here.
• All files are time series unless noted otherwise.
• To download all Zillow metrics for specific levels of geography, click here.
• To download a crosswalk between Zillow regions and federally defined regions for counties and metro areas, click here.
• Unless otherwise noted, all series cover single-family residences, condominiums and co-op homes only.

Source: https://www.zillow.com/research/data/

This dataset was created by Zillow Data and contains around 200 samples along with Unnamed: 1, Unnamed: 0, technical information and other features such as: - Unnamed: 1 - Unnamed: 0 - and more.

How to use this dataset

• Analyze Unnamed: 1 in relation to Unnamed: 0
• Study the influence of Unnamed: 1 on Unnamed: 0
• More datasets

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit Zillow Data

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--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

United States US: Price to Rent Ratio: sa data was reported at 134.118 2015=100 in 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 133.710 2015=100 for 2023. United States US: Price to Rent Ratio: sa data is updated yearly, averaging 99.069 2015=100 from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2024, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 137.672 2015=100 in 2022 and a record low of 89.669 2015=100 in 1997. United States US: Price to Rent Ratio: sa data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.OECD.AHPI: House Price Index: Seasonally Adjusted: OECD Member: Annual. Nominal house prices divided by rent price indices

This dataset was developed by the Research & Analytics Group at the Atlanta Regional Commission using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.For a deep dive into the data model including every specific metric, see the Infrastructure Manifest. The manifest details ARC-defined naming conventions, field names/descriptions and topics, summary levels; source tables; notes and so forth for all metrics.Naming conventions:Prefixes: None Countp Percentr Ratem Mediana Mean (average)t Aggregate (total)ch Change in absolute terms (value in t2 - value in t1)pch Percent change ((value in t2 - value in t1) / value in t1)chp Change in percent (percent in t2 - percent in t1)s Significance flag for change: 1 = statistically significant with a 90% CI, 0 = not statistically significant, blank = cannot be computed Suffixes: _e19 Estimate from 2014-19 ACS_m19 Margin of Error from 2014-19 ACS_00_v19 Decennial 2000, re-estimated to 2019 geography_00_19 Change, 2000-19_e10_v19 2006-10 ACS, re-estimated to 2019 geography_m10_v19 Margin of Error from 2006-10 ACS, re-estimated to 2019 geography_e10_19 Change, 2010-19The user should note that American Community Survey data represent estimates derived from a surveyed sample of the population, which creates some level of uncertainty, as opposed to an exact measure of the entire population (the full census count is only conducted once every 10 years and does not cover as many detailed characteristics of the population). Therefore, any measure reported by ACS should not be taken as an exact number – this is why a corresponding margin of error (MOE) is also given for ACS measures. The size of the MOE relative to its corresponding estimate value provides an indication of confidence in the accuracy of each estimate. Each MOE is expressed in the same units as its corresponding measure; for example, if the estimate value is expressed as a number, then its MOE will also be a number; if the estimate value is expressed as a percent, then its MOE will also be a percent. The user should also note that for relatively small geographic areas, such as census tracts shown here, ACS only releases combined 5-year estimates, meaning these estimates represent rolling averages of survey results that were collected over a 5-year span (in this case 2015-2019). Therefore, these data do not represent any one specific point in time or even one specific year. For geographic areas with larger populations, 3-year and 1-year estimates are also available. For further explanation of ACS estimates and margin of error, visit Census ACS website.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Atlanta Regional CommissionDate: 2015-2019Data License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC by 4.0)Link to the manifest: https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/3d489c725bb24f52a987b302147c46ee/data

The 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the Census TIGER database. The geographic coverage for a single TIGER/Line file is a county or statistical equivalent entity, with the coverage area based on the latest available governmental unit boundaries. The Census TIGER database represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts. However, each county-based TIGER/Line file is designed to stand alone as an independent data set or the files can be combined to cover the whole Nation. The 2006 Second Edition TIGER/Line files consist of line segments representing physical features and governmental and statistical boundaries.

This shapefile represents the current State House Districts for New Mexico as posted on the Census Bureau website for 2006.