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Rent Prices in the US
The median US renter pays $1,413 a month in gross rent, which includes utilities, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 2020–2024 5-year estimates. Among the 91 US cities with at least 250,000 residents, median rent ranges from $901 in Toledo, OH to $2,997 in Irvine, CA.
Half of US renter households (51%) spend 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities. Federal housing agencies call these households cost burdened. In the typical big city, 52% of renter households are cost burdened.
Most and Least Expensive Big Cities to Rent
These lists rank the 91 US cities with at least 250,000 residents by median gross rent. Each link opens the rent section of that city’s demographics page, which maps rent neighborhood by neighborhood.
10 highest-rent big cities
- Irvine, CA: $2,997
- San Jose, CA: $2,669
- San Francisco, CA: $2,476
- San Diego, CA: $2,313
- Chula Vista, CA: $2,229
- Anaheim, CA: $2,175
- Boston, MA: $2,147
- Gilbert, AZ: $2,110
- Santa Ana, CA: $2,082
- Seattle, WA: $2,030
10 lowest-rent big cities
- Toledo, OH: $901
- Cleveland, OH: $945
- Wichita, KS: $975
- St. Louis, MO: $997
- Fort Wayne, IN: $999
- Cincinnati, OH: $1,001
- Laredo, TX: $1,030
- Buffalo, NY: $1,046
- Tulsa, OK: $1,052
- Milwaukee, WI: $1,059
California holds seven of the 10 highest-rent spots, joined by Boston, Seattle, and Gilbert, Arizona. Toledo and Cleveland have the lowest median rents of any big city, both under $950 a month.
High rent and a heavy rent burden are different things
San Francisco has the third-highest median rent of any big city. It also has the smallest share of cost-burdened renters, 39.6%, because incomes there run high. Miami’s median rent runs more than $700 a month below San Francisco’s, yet 62.9% of Miami renters are cost burdened, the largest share of any big city. The chart shows the cost-burdened share for the 20 largest cities.
Share of renter households that spend 30% or more of household income on gross rent, 20 most populous US cities, with the national share in gray. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, table B25070.
What Median Rent Measures
Gross rent is the monthly rent plus the average monthly cost of utilities and fuels the renter pays, such as electricity, gas, water, and heating oil. Using gross rent puts an apartment with utilities included on equal footing with one where the tenant pays them separately.
The median covers every renter household that pays cash rent, including tenants who signed their leases years ago. Rent for an apartment listed today often runs higher, so listing sites tend to show higher figures than the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau also reports the share of income the median renter household spends on gross rent. Nationally that share is 30.6%. The cost-burdened share on this page counts renter households paying 30% or more, the line federal housing agencies use.
Rent is one part of a household budget. The cost of living index compares all local prices, and the home prices and household income pages cover buying and earning.
Where These Numbers Come From
Every figure on this page comes directly from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates: table B25064 for median gross rent, B25070 for rent as a share of income, and B25071 for the median share. It is the most recent release available as of September 2026. BestNeighborhood updates this page when the Census Bureau publishes each new release.
The survey reaches about 3.5 million addresses a year. A 5-year estimate pools the answers from 2020 through 2024 and reports rents in 2024 dollars. Pooling five years gives enough answers to report on small areas, down to single neighborhoods.
The city figures above cover each city’s legal limits as the Census Bureau draws them. For several of the largest cities, the linked city page describes the whole metro area, so its headline figure differs from the one above.
Every survey estimate has a margin of error. For cities this large, the margin is small next to the gaps between cities. For a single neighborhood the margin is wider, so treat small differences between neighborhoods as ties.
Rent Prices by State
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, Table B25064: Median Gross Rent (Dollars). data.census.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, Table B25070: Gross Rent as a Percentage of Household Income in the Past 12 Months. data.census.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, Table B25071: Median Gross Rent as a Percentage of Household Income. data.census.gov
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data, housing cost burden. huduser.gov