Rent prices continue to stabilize across the country, offering renters some relief from 11 months of double-digit rent growth that sustained from October 2021 through September 2022.
According to the January 2023 Rent. Report, the median rent price rose 4.77 percent year-over-year in December 2022, the lowest increase in 18 months. Month-over-month rents decreased by 1.41 percent between November and December. Prices from January also continued to slow, with yearly growth just above 2 percent.
Yet despite five consecutive months of moderate, single-digit rent increases, renters still face big rent bills. That’s because, on a longer-term view, the national median rent price increased almost 20 percent (19.80) from December 2020 to December 2022.
Even though experts agree that rent growth is coming more in line with normal levels, a review of the top 50 cities by inventory counts reveals just how much rent prices have grown from pre-pandemic levels across the nation.
Prices in the South and West increased the most
Rising rent prices affected the whole country. But renters in the southern and western regions of the United States saw their rent prices climb even higher than 19.80 percent during the two-year period from December 2020 to December 2022.
Cities in the geographic South (as defined by the U.S. Census)saw the largest rent increase in this survey. Rents in the region shot up 24.34 percent over two years. Rent prices in the West increased by 22.42 percent.
Rent prices spiked between 2020 and 2021
This extreme growth isn’t captured by yearly and monthly measurements because the majority of those hikes happened outside those measurement periods. These two-year price hikes were fueled by a national double-digit rent increase that occurred in 2020-2021.
After an early COVID-era dip of 2.26 percent between December 2019 and 2020, U.S. rent prices shot up 15 percent by December 2021. Yes, price growth is returning to normal levels, but changes are now being compared to a market that already went through a period of extreme growth.
The price jump recorded in 2020-2021 raised the national median rent price from $1,624 in December 2020 to $1,869 a year later in the 50 cities that made up this study. That’s an increase of $245. The more moderate growth from December 2021 to December 2022 added another $83 to that difference, making already expensive rents more expensive. All told, prices jumped $328 dollars, from $1,624 in 2020 to $1,952 in 2021.
Median rent tops $1,000 in all surveyed cities
Among the locations in this study, the proportion of cities with a median rent price over $2,000 grew by 33 percent over the last two years. It cost $2,000 or more to live in 12 U.S. cities in December 2020. Two years later, that number grew to 16.
On the other end of affordability, several cities registered prices below $1,000 in 2020. That amount was enough to rent a median-priced apartment in communities like Fargo in the Midwest, Baton Rouge and Louisville in the South and Tucson in the West. But by 2022, the proportion of cities with median prices below $1,000 dropped to zero.
(NOTE: This survey analyzed data from the 50 cities with the highest number of available units in Rent.’s inventory. It may be possible to rent an apartment for less than $1,000 in some markets, but not in the 50 communities within this study.)
Two-year rent trends by region
Renters across the country saw their rents go up over the last two years, despite recent rent increase slowdowns. The amount they paid and how much rental rates increased varied by geographic region.
The South
The South saw the largest two-year rent increase in this survey at 24.35 percent. Prices dropped 1.01 percent between December 2019 and December 2020 before soaring up 19.48 percent a year later. By the end of 2022, the median cost of rent in the region reached $1,726. That’s below the national median, but $349 higher than what Southern renters paid in December 2020.
There are signs that rent prices in the South will continue to climb. The majority (70 percent) of cities where rent increased by the most percentage points are located in the South. They include Raleigh, Nashville and Austin, as well as three cities in Florida —Miami, Tampa and Orlando. Louisville, where rents were under $1,000 in 2020, also saw its rents rise enough to make the list.
The South added three more cities where the median rent is now over $2,000 in 2022, bringing the total to five. (That’s the largest increase in the survey.) Newcomers to the list include Atlanta, where the median rent price is $2,210, Orlando ($2,072) and Nashville ($2,289).
Those cities join Arlington (where rents hit $2,632 in December 2022), and Miami, where renters paid $3,479 during the same time period. The monthly rent price in Miami increased by $1,090, making it one of only two U.S. cities in this survey to see rents rise over $1,000 in two years. Nashville, Orlando and Arlington were also among the 10 cities with the highest dollar-by-dollar rent increases.
The West
This region holds the largest group of cities (seven) with a median rent of over $2,000. Of these, five (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Irvine) are located in California. They all also recorded a median rent of more than $3,000. They’re joined by Seattle and Denver, where rent cost $2,583 and $2,377 per month, respectively.
Rents here increased 22.42 percent over the last two years. That’s both higher than the national average and the second-highest increase in this survey. It comes after rent prices fell 6.80 percent between 2019 and 2020, the largest drop of any region.
Seattle was among the top 10 cities where rent increased by the highest percentage. Tuscon also made this list when rents hit $1,182 per month at the end of last year.
The West also holds 40 percent of the cities where rent rose by the greatest dollar amount over this survey period. Seattle made this list as well. It’s joined by San Francisco ($3,828), Irvine ($3,217) and San Diego ($3,406).
The Northeast
Median rent prices in the Northeast increased by 17.80 percent over the last two years. The region holds three high-population urban areas where the median rent price tops $2,000 — by a lot. They include Boston ($3,942), Jersey City ($4,029) and New York City ($4,297).
The Northeast saw the largest regional price increase in the survey. Renters here paid $506 more per month in December 2022 than they did two years earlier.
This increase was driven by growth within the largest metropolitan area in the state —and the country. Jersey City, one of the 10 cities where the median rent rose by the greatest percentage, joined New York City as two of the top 10 cities where the price of rent increased by the largest dollar amount.
Jersey City renters weathered the largest two-year rent price spike in the survey during this two-year period. The monthly median rent price increased by $1,432 between December 2020 and December 2022.
The Northeast also logged the largest 2021-2022 rent increase of any region at 9.10 percent. That’s not exactly hopeful news for renters searching for a bargain.
The Midwest
In comparison, fluctuations in the Midwest were more moderate. The median rent price in the region increased just 10.60 percent over the last two years. That’s less than half the increase that renters in the South and West faced during the same period.
This was the only region that didn’t see a big price drop between 2019 and 2020. Instead, rental rates held relatively steady at 1.70 percent.
The Midwest also saw more moderate rate increases year-over-year. Rents went up just 4.50 percent between 2020 and 2021, the smallest increase of all four regions. Rent prices actually rose more (5.42 percent) between 2021 and 2022. Only the Northeast saw larger growth during the last year.
The region remains comparatively affordable. Only Chicago logs a median rent over $2,000. Rent prices in the other 12 Midwestern cities in the survey are well under the national median.
The Takeaway
Rents have been stabilizing since the last quarter of 2022. But with rents up nearly 20 percent over the last two years, prices are not likely falling back to pre-pandemic levels.
Higher prices are here to stay. Across all 50 of the cities in this study, rents have not hit a ceiling, but rather a new lower bound — significantly elevated above previous levels — from which to continue to grow.
| Region | Lead Delta |
|---|---|
| Midwest | 1.73% |
| Northeast | 3.36% |
| South | -1.77% |
| West | -1.31% |
Methodology
We analyzed rental property prices in December 2022 and December 2020 from Rent.’s available inventory to identify our median rent prices at the city level. Our analysis combines inventory and bedroom types into one simple median that covers all available rental units at the time.
The 50 cities areas in our analysis correspond to the 50 cities with the highest number of available units in Rent.’s inventory. Regional distinctions were based on the U.S. Census Bureau.
More detailed information about our methodology can be found here.
The rent information included in this article is used for illustrative purposes only. The data contained herein do not constitute financial advice or a pricing guarantee for any apartment. The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or financial advice. Readers are encouraged to seek professional legal or financial advice as they may deem it necessary.
