Highlights
- January 2021 data: In the 50 largest metros, the median rent was $1,442, up 0.8% year-over-year.
- In January, rents were declining year-over-year in 16 of the 50 largest metros, up from just 2 in March before the pandemic, and down from 17 in December.
- Rents are increasing the most in New Orleans-Metairie, LA and Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA, both seeing double-digit growth year-over-year.
- Rent declines in expensive, high-tech hubs remain the norm. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA are seeing the largest declines in rents, along with Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Across the largest cities in the country, rents have been growing at a slower pace since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year. In January, this slowing trend may have found its bottom, as a perhaps more optimistic outlook on 2021 has set in with continued news of relief and vaccines.
In January, rents were declining year-over-year in 16 of the 50 largest metros, up from just 2 in March before the pandemic, but down from 17 in December.
Rents at the national level, calculated by averaging the top 50 largest metros, are still growing below pre-COVID rates. The median rent in January was $1,442, up 0.8 percent year-over-year. In March, rents were growing by 3.2 percent year-over-year. Rent growth may have found a floor, as January marks the first month since July where the trend has not slowed compared to the previous month.
While rents in major tech hubs continue their decline, some markets are seeing rents grow by double digits.
Rising Rents Match Homebuying Hotspots
Rents are rising in many of the same markets where home prices are rising. Many of the same factors that attract homebuyers — good schools, job opportunities, affordability, and more — attract renters, and the rental trends reflect that reality.
Metros such as Rochester, NY; Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA; St. Louis, MO-IL; Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN; and New Orleans-Metairie, LA, which are all topping the list of largest year-over-year rent growth, are also among the metros with the fastest-growing home prices.
These locales represent a host of varying trends all playing out at the same time.
In cases of spillover markets like Sacramento and Riverside, the expensive markets of Los Angeles and San Francisco are driving renters to more affordable housing further inland. And with working-from-home as the new normal, Sacramento and Riverside offer more affordable options without sacrificing too much in terms of proximity to the major hubs. Despite a massive 9.6 percent increase in the last year, the median rent in the Riverside metro was $1,858 in January, 25.4 percent lower than the median rent in the neighboring Los Angeles metro area. Likewise, the median rent in the Sacramento metro area was $1,649 in January, still 36.8 percent lower than the median rent in the nearby San Francisco metro area, despite its 11 percent rise in the last year.
As demand for coastal housing markets reached a fever pitch a few years ago, the increasing prices eventually drove affordability-minded homeseekers inland toward the midwest. Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Indiannapolis metro areas are all still experiencing growth from that movement, and are among the fastest growing rental markets, with median rents growing 7.5 to 9.7 percent year-over-year in January, faster than their pre-COVID pace in St. Louis and Cleveland.
Top 10 Markets for Rent Increases – January 2021
| Metro | Median Rent | Rent YoY |
| New Orleans-Metairie, La. | $1,300 | 18.2% |
| Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif. | $1,649 | 11.0% |
| Rochester, N.Y. | $1,154 | 9.9% |
| Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio | $1,070 | 9.7% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. | $1,858 | 9.6% |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind. | $1,054 | 8.8% |
| Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind. | $1,083 | 8.3% |
| Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. | $1,000 | 8.1% |
| St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. | $1,075 | 7.5% |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. | $1,215 | 7.0% |
Markets With the Largest Rent Decreases in January 2021
| Metro | Median Rent | Rent YoY |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. | $2,610 | -12.6% |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. | $2,670 | -11.1% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. | $1,709 | -8.9% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H. | $2,240 | -8.2% |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y. | $1,095 | -6.0% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif. | $2,490 | -5.1% |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va. | $1,840 | -4.6% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla. | $1,302 | -3.6% |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. | $1,605 | -3.4% |
| Austin-Round Rock, Texas | $1,313 | -2.7% |
Rental Data – 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas January 2021
*Editor’s Note: New Orleans’ exceptional year-over-year growth in median rent was driven by shifts in the underlying inventory of rental units. The number of studio units has declined by 17% year-over-year, while one-bedroom and two-bedroom unit inventory has increased by 50% and 31%, respectively. The larger space commands larger rents, therefore driving up the median rent in the area.
Methodology
Rental units include apartment communities as well as private rentals (condos, townhomes, single-family homes). All units were studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom units. National rents were calculated by averaging the medians of the 50 largest metropolitan areas.