Top 10 American cities with the highest rental rates

The pandemic upended ordinary life in 2020, kicking off an unprecedented workforce migration that roiled the housing market and sent rental rates skyrocketing. Now, with inflation on the rise and the housing market cooling down, real estate is again in flux, causing rental rates to rise in some areas and decline in others.

A new report on national rental rates from Zumper, a rental platform, quantifies this: For the first time since COVID-19 set in, both one- and two-bedroom rental rates are down.

“In many metro areas, declining prices are actually a correction to prices that’d become overly inflated. We saw historic levels of migration throughout the pandemic, as people switched to working from home and re-imagined their living situations. Now—with a turbulent, unpredictable economy causing fear of recession—migrations are slowing, occupancy rates are falling and rent prices are following suit.”

Specifically, one-bedroom median rent is down 0.8% nationally over last month to $1,491, and the two-bedroom median is down 0.7% to $1,832, according to a statement about the findings.

“More than half the cities on the list posted month-over-month declines and 19 cities remained flat, leaving just 20% of Zumper’s top 100 list with month-over-month increases,” the statement continues. “This slowdown is showing up in our year-over-year figures, too: After 12 straight months of double-digit year-over-year jumps, the national median is up a slightly more reasonable 9.2% over October of last year.”

Especially notable in the rankings, driven by a low supply of housing stock, Boston surpassed San Francisco to become the second most expensive city in the United States this month, according to a statement from Zumper.

“Boston is now the second most expensive city in the United States. It leapfrogged San Francisco (where post-pandemic recovery has been slower than normal and one-bedroom rent is down 4.6% this month),” the statement says. “Median one-bedroom rent in Boston jumped 5.9% this month, to $3,060. Boston’s two-bedroom median is now $3,500, a 4.2% increase over last month.”

For a complete list of 100 American cities and their rental rates, visit Zumper’s website.