If shopping for a house right this moment is financially out of attain for a lot of Individuals, affording the hire might also appear to be an more and more tall order.
Within the 50 largest U.S. cities, the hire for a one-bedroom residence climbed a median of $457 per thirty days, or 41%, to $1,578 between 2020 and 2025, based on a current examine from mortgage market LendingTree. Two-bedroom rents have surged a median of $505, or 37%, to roughly $1,858 per thirty days over the identical interval.
Since 2019, rents nationally have risen 1.5 occasions quicker than wages on common, based on a 2024 report from on-line actual property brokers Zillow and StreetEasy.
“If your income is rising at the same time your rent is, maybe that extra expense is no big deal,” Matt Schulz, chief shopper finance analyst at LendingTree, stated within the report. “However, so many Americans’ financial wiggle room is tiny, even in the best of times, so having to carve out hundreds of extra dollars to pay rent each month can be a big deal.”
A number of components clarify why rents have surged, stated Rob Bhatt, a shopper finance analyst at LendingTree. Maybe most significantly, through the pandemic legions of newly distant employees moved to new markets, driving up demand rents and housing costs.
Excessive dwelling costs and rising mortgage charges, which have stored a lid on the variety of houses coming to market, have additionally left extra renters competing for a restricted inventory of reasonably priced housing. Rents are projected to ease nationally subsequent 12 months, however solely by 1%, based on a current examine from Realtor.com.
The place have rents risen probably the most?
New York, San Diego and Miami have seen the biggest month-to-month rental will increase for each one-bedroom items — which rose $854, $817 and $764 within the three cities, respectively, since 2020 — and two-bedroom items, which have jumped $857, $877 and $885, respectively, during the last 5 years.
Rounding out the highest 10 cities the place one-bedroom rents have risen probably the most during the last 5 years, based on LendingTree (see chart under for an inventory of the change in rents for the highest 50 cities):
Riverside, Calif.
Tampa, Fla.
Sacramento, Calif.
Atlanta
Orlando, Fla.
Boston
Phoenix
In New York and San Diego, the spike in rents is attributable principally to the demand for housing exceeding provide, based on LendingTree. Renters in these metro areas face restricted stock and loads of competitors.
LendingTree attributed the surge in rental costs in Miami to the native inhabitants growth, noting that sturdy home and worldwide migration to the world has pushed up demand.
One high-priced metropolis the place hire will increase have cooled is San Francisco. The price of a one-bedroom unit within the metropolis rose $54 a month, to a median of $2,977, during the last 5 years, whereas two-bedrooms rose $51 to $3,604, LendingTree discovered.
Different cities the place rents are rising extra slowly are Birmingham, Ala.; Oklahoma Metropolis, Okla.; San Antonio, Texas; and St. Louis, Mo.

LendingTree’s findings are based mostly on an evaluation of fair-market rents (FMR) from the Division of Housing and City Growth. The federal company defines such rents as “estimates of 40th percentile gross rents for standard-quality units within a metropolitan area or nonmetropolitan county.” The agency’s figures exclude rents for public housing and for items constructed throughout the previous two years.
Alain Sherter
Extra from CBS Information