Nationally, rent prices stayed pretty steady in February, falling a mere .03% over the course of the month. That brings the current national median rent to $1,003, a 1.3% decrease since the beginning of the year.
Some cities saw more major decreases. Philadelphia’s one-bedrooms rented for $1,112 per month, a 9.7% dropoff from last month’s figure of $1,232. Two cities with significantly lower rents, Rochester, NY, and Fort Wayne, IN, showed similar decreases of 9.2%.
This marks the second consecutive month that Philadelphia, Rochester, and Fort Wayne have experienced significant drops in rent. These cities, along with Nashville, TN (-7.9%); Cleveland, OH (-6.7%); Cincinnati, OH (-6.6%); Richmond, VA (-5.3%); all appeared on last month’s list of greatest decreases, as well.
Only El Paso, TX (-7.5%), and Riverside, CA (-5.9%), are new additions.
New Orleans, LA, saw its one-bedroom rent increase 9.1% to $1,055, the largest jump in the country. And although Glendale, AZ (7.4%), and Atlanta, GA (6.4%), both experienced notable gains for the second straight month, the majority of rental increases were more modest.
Miami, FL, and Buffalo, NY, both experienced increases of 5.7%. In Houston, TX (4.4%); Phoenix, AZ (4.2%); Seattle, WA (3.4%); Columbus, OH (2.5%); and Washington, D.C. (2.5%); rental increases were minor.
The list of cities with the highest rents didn’t change in the last month, and for the most part, rents stayed stable, with all changes — positive or negative — under $50. As usual, San Francisco owns the country’s most expensive rent, with one-bedrooms going for $3,465 per month. The City by the Bay is followed by New York City, NY ($2,754); San Jose, CA ($2,579); and Boston, MA ($2,410).
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METHODOLOGY
Each month, using over 1 million Rentable listings across the United States, we calculate the median 1-bedroom rent price by city, state, and nation and track the month-over-month percent change. To avoid small sample sizes, we restrict the analysis for our reports to cities meeting minimum population and property count thresholds.
