Notable Trends

  1. March marks the end of the slow moving season as the national rates for both one and two-bedrooms grew on a monthly basis for the first time in 6 months.
  2. The rate increase in the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data indicates that inflation is sticking around for longer than previously expected and the recent uptick shown in Zumper’s National Rent Index suggests that even more pressure will be put on the CPI in the coming months.
  3. Heavily supplied markets in Arizona continue to see prices cool as all of this state’s cities in our report either had flat or declining annual rent rates.
  4. New York City had the largest annual rent price growth rate in the nation, up 25%.
Top 10 U.S. cities with the most expensive one-bedroom rents

National rates for both one and two-bedrooms are up on a monthly basis for the first time in 6 months

With both the national rates increasing on a monthly basis for the first time in 6 months and 67 cities in this report experiencing climbing rents as well, March seems to mark the end of the slow moving season. The national one-bedroom rent increased 0.3% to $1,487, while two-bedrooms grew 0.5% to $1,847. After the last few years of atypical rental trends, the market has returned to a more standard pattern where demand cools in the winter months and picks up again in the spring and peaks in the summer and fall. 

Annually speaking, Zumper’s national rates have remained relatively flat with one-bedrooms down a slight 0.5% and two-bedrooms up 0.8%. While the historic amount of new apartment supply hitting the U.S. market coupled with the lessened demand from the winter months have contributed to the market’s current overall flatness, the skyrocketing rates that were seen in 2021 and 2022, when 2 years of pent up demand from the pandemic hit the market, have not been offset. The current national rent rates are still up 22% for one-bedrooms and 26% for two-bedrooms, when compared to March 2020. 

Year-over-year price changes to the U.S. national one and two bedroom rents

Inflation’s stickiness at the same time as growing national rent rates will put more pressure on the CPI 

Produced monthly by the The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change overtime in the prices paid by urban consumers for goods and services, including the cost of shelter in general, rent prices in particular. After a stabilization over the last 6 months following the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes, the most recent CPI data revealed that rates increased again in February, suggesting that inflation is persisting for longer than was previously expected, and shelter, along with energy, was the most significant contributor to the uptick.

“There is a lagging nature to the CPI’s shelter cost component since it measures existing paid rents as part of its calculation, not just current asking rents,” explains Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. “Zumper’s National Rent Index serves as a leading indicator of shelter CPI since our data measures asking rents today. Zumper’s national rates showed an increase for the first time in 6 months. Coupled with the current stickiness of inflation, this suggests that there will be even more pressure put on the CPI in the coming months.”

Arizona cities continue to cool while New York City rent climbs 25% annually

Heavily supplied Arizona continues to see prices cool as all 6 of the Arizona cities in our report either had flat or declining rents. 4 of these markets actually had annual rates that were in the top 10 largest declines overall. Glendale was the Arizona city with the largest rent decline with one-bedrooms down over 10% since this time last year. Scottsdale, Gilbert and Phoenix were close behind with rents all decreasing about 9%. All of these dips are significantly lower than the national rate’s, as visualized below. 

Phoenix is expected to have over 33,000 units come online in 2024, which is more than double the new inventory that was seen in 2023. With the current low occupancy rates in this area, renters can expect to see buildings offering concessions like up to 2 months of free rent as well as waived deposits and application fees.

Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale historical one-bedroom rent prices by month from January 2023 to March 2024

Meanwhile, Midwest and Northeast markets continue to encompass the largest year-over-year growth rates in the nation with New York City one-bedroom rent up 25%. Columbus, Chicago, and Syracuse rents were the next fastest growing, climbing between 17% to 22%. This resilience can be generally credited to lack of new supply and a competitive market. 

Top 5 cities with the fastest growing month-over-month rents and top 5 cities with the largest month-over-month declines

If you’re interested in how Zumper’s historical rent data compares with the Shelter CPI produced monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, view our updated chart here: https://www.zumper.com/blog/zumper-consumer-price-index/.

Full Data

1 bedroom2 Bedrooms
RankingRanking ChangeCityPriceM/M%Y/Y%PriceM/M%Y/Y%
10New York, NY$4,2000.00%24.60%$4,6700.60%22.30%
20Jersey City, NJ$3,2603.80%9.00%$3,8200.50%14.70%
30San Francisco, CA$2,9000.00%-3.30%$3,850-1.00%-3.80%
40Boston, MA$2,8501.10%1.40%$3,4500.00%7.80%
50Miami, FL$2,7102.30%1.10%$3,6303.70%3.70%
60San Jose, CA$2,4502.10%-4.70%$3,2304.20%-1.20%
70Arlington, VA$2,3400.40%2.60%$2,960-0.70%-1.00%
80San Diego, CA$2,3301.30%-1.70%$3,1301.00%1.00%
90Los Angeles, CA$2,3002.20%-4.20%$3,3003.10%0.00%
10-1Washington, DC$2,2700.90%-2.20%$3,020-1.60%-5.60%
111Santa Ana, CA$2,1401.90%-0.90%$2,8600.70%3.20%
12-1Chicago, IL$2,1000.00%20.70%$2,6601.90%29.80%
130Anaheim, CA$2,0000.00%0.50%$2,6000.80%1.20%
130Oakland, CA$2,0000.00%-9.10%$2,6200.80%-8.10%
150Charleston, SC$1,960-0.50%7.70%$2,450-2.00%6.50%
160Fort Lauderdale, FL$1,9502.60%-2.50%$2,9505.40%5.70%
170Seattle, WA$1,9103.20%-5.00%$2,5903.60%-7.20%
18-1Urban Honolulu, HI$1,9002.70%5.60%$2,6801.90%10.30%
190Denver, CO$1,8100.00%3.40%$2,3801.30%3.50%
200Long Beach, CA$1,8000.00%0.00%$2,3700.90%3.00%
210New Haven, CT$1,7402.40%8.70%$2,1001.90%14.10%
220Scottsdale, AZ$1,7001.20%-9.10%$2,190-0.50%-13.40%
231Nashville, TN$1,6800.60%-5.60%$1,8900.50%-2.60%
24-2Atlanta, GA$1,650-1.80%-6.80%$2,1401.40%-6.60%
250Tampa, FL$1,6000.00%-5.30%$1,8902.20%-3.10%
250Providence, RI$1,6000.00%-5.90%$2,140-1.80%10.90%
273Virginia Beach, VA$1,5704.70%4.70%$1,7301.80%3.00%
270Orlando, FL$1,5701.30%-4.80%$1,8300.50%-4.70%
291St. Petersburg, FL$1,5604.00%4.00%$2,2004.80%9.50%
290New Orleans, LA$1,5602.00%0.60%$1,8001.10%0.00%
31-1Austin, TX$1,5302.00%-4.40%$1,9602.10%-1.50%
32-2Henderson, NV$1,5000.00%2.00%$1,7600.60%3.50%
324Charlotte, NC$1,5000.70%-4.50%$1,8102.30%0.60%
32-2Sacramento, CA$1,5000.00%-5.70%$1,8601.10%-2.10%
352Philadelphia, PA$1,4800.70%5.70%$1,7502.90%0.00%
357Plano, TX$1,4805.70%2.80%$2,0205.20%6.30%
372Madison, WI$1,4702.80%13.10%$1,820-0.50%14.50%
37-7Newark, NJ$1,470-2.00%-2.00%$2,0502.50%17.10%
39-12Gilbert, AZ$1,460-5.80%-8.80%$1,790-5.80%-0.60%
40-1Portland, OR$1,4300.00%-5.30%$1,8000.00%-3.70%
41-3Durham, NC$1,410-2.80%-4.70%$1,670-1.80%0.60%
410Asheville, NC$1,410-0.70%-6.00%$1,790-0.60%-2.20%
431Baltimore, MD$1,3903.00%-0.70%$1,6000.00%0.60%
44-1Aurora, CO$1,3800.00%-0.70%$1,9002.70%2.70%
45-1Boise, ID$1,3701.50%-6.80%$1,5003.40%-1.30%
46-2Dallas, TX$1,3600.70%-8.70%$1,9501.00%-4.40%
471Richmond, VA$1,3501.50%3.80%$1,6001.30%6.70%
482Knoxville, TN$1,3401.50%4.70%$1,6402.50%8.60%
483Minneapolis, MN$1,3402.30%3.90%$1,880-1.10%3.30%
508Norfolk, VA$1,3306.40%10.80%$1,4305.90%4.40%
50-6Salt Lake City, UT$1,330-1.50%2.30%$1,700-5.60%6.30%
523Cleveland, OH$1,3002.40%15.00%$1,3500.00%14.40%
52-4Fresno, CA$1,300-2.30%0.00%$1,5900.60%3.20%
540Anchorage, AK$1,2900.80%10.30%$1,6003.20%18.50%
541Raleigh, NC$1,2901.60%-7.20%$1,5600.60%-2.50%
54-2Irving, TX$1,2900.00%-11.60%$1,6702.50%-10.70%
571Reno, NV$1,2802.40%-1.50%$1,6402.50%-5.70%
57-5Phoenix, AZ$1,280-0.80%-8.60%$1,5600.60%-6.60%
593Mesa, AZ$1,2501.60%-5.30%$1,5400.70%-1.90%
59-1Fort Worth, TX$1,2500.00%-8.10%$1,5201.30%-5.60%
610Las Vegas, NV$1,2400.00%-3.90%$1,5100.70%-2.60%
613Jacksonville, FL$1,2402.50%-4.60%$1,4501.40%3.60%
614Chattanooga, TN$1,2403.30%-6.80%$1,390-2.10%-8.60%
64-7Houston, TX$1,210-4.00%-6.90%$1,520-5.60%-7.90%
653Columbus, OH$1,2006.20%22.40%$1,3703.00%1.50%
652Buffalo, NY$1,2005.30%12.10%$1,3000.00%8.30%
650Pittsburgh, PA$1,2000.00%-4.00%$1,5502.60%3.30%
68-5Glendale, AZ$1,190-2.50%-10.50%$1,440-0.70%-11.70%
691Rochester, NY$1,1303.70%13.00%$1,4505.10%13.30%
691Kansas, City, MO$1,1303.70%3.70%$1,3201.50%7.30%
690Colorado Springs, CO$1,1302.70%-5.80%$1,4600.70%-5.80%
72-2Arlington, TX$1,1101.80%-4.30%$1,4803.50%0.00%
730Spokane, WA$1,0701.90%4.90%$1,3604.60%4.60%
746Indianapolis, IN$1,0606.00%-3.60%$1,2905.70%6.60%
74-1San Antonio, TX$1,0601.00%-8.60%$1,3500.00%-6.30%
76-3Milwaukee, WI$1,0500.00%7.10%$1,1504.50%5.50%
77-4Syracuse, NY$1,040-1.00%16.90%$1,3302.30%14.70%
772Bakersfield, CA$1,0401.00%4.00%$1,4100.70%6.00%
79-1Louisville, KY$1,010-2.90%-5.60%$1,1800.90%-1.70%
802Cincinnati, OH$1,0002.00%0.00%$1,390-0.70%6.10%
800Tallahassee, FL$1,0000.00%-4.80%$1,2701.60%5.80%
80-7Detroit, MI$1,000-4.80%-7.40%$1,1000.00%-2.70%
831Omaha, NE$9906.50%4.20%$1,3806.20%4.50%
83-1Baton Rouge, LA$9901.00%2.10%$1,1403.60%4.60%
85-1Greensboro, NC$9704.30%-8.50%$1,1603.60%0.00%
861Des Moines, IA$9605.50%1.10%$1,1602.70%7.40%
871Albuquerque, NM$9505.60%-7.80%$1,2700.80%-3.10%
88-4Lexington, KY$9401.10%16.00%$1,1801.70%7.30%
89-1St. Louis, MO$9202.20%2.20%$1,3104.00%0.80%
90-2Memphis, TN$9101.10%1.10%$1,000-1.00%-1.00%
90-2Tucson, AZ$9101.10%0.00%$1,3000.00%4.00%
921El Paso, TX$9005.90%12.50%$1,120-0.90%1.80%
921Augusta, GA$9005.90%-3.20%$1,0106.30%-9.00%
94-6Tulsa, OK$890-1.10%-1.10%$1,040-3.70%-4.60%
94-1Winston Salem, NC$8904.70%-11.00%$1,1000.00%-0.90%
960Oklahoma City, OK$8603.60%0.00%$1,0500.00%0.00%
970Lincoln, NE$8406.30%9.10%$1,0606.00%6.00%
981Shreveport, LA$7705.50%11.60%$8503.70%9.00%
99-1Akron, OH$7601.30%7.00%$9000.00%5.90%
1000Wichita, KS$6906.20%-1.40%$8803.50%3.50%

About

The rental data for Zumper’s National Rent Report analyzes over one million active listings across the country every month. Listings are aggregated to calculate median asking rents for the top 100 most populous cities and therefore provides a comprehensive view of the current state of the market. Any data that is reported does not include short term listings. View our full methodology here.

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