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Housing demand finds a new home in rentals, up 19.2% (September Rent Report)

As elevated borrowing costs push up a buyer’s monthly payment, more shoppers are choosing to rent.

Written by Kara Ng on October 15, 2026

Rental demand is up 19.2% year over year nationwide, as measured by the Zillow Observed Renter Demand Index (ZORDI).¹
The typical U.S. rent was $1,932 a month in September, up 2.7% from a year ago.
The financial advantage of renting is growing, as the typical new home buyer’s monthly payment² is climbing nearly twice as fast as rent, up 5% from a year ago to $3,037.

Housing demand doesn’t disappear when buying becomes harder financially. Instead, it finds a new home in the rental market. The Zillow Observed Renter Demand Index (ZORDI), an indicator of rental demand, rose 19.2% year over year as elevated borrowing costs push would-be buyers to rent instead.

Rents are climbing, but buying costs are climbing faster. Typical rent is $1,932 a month, up 2.7% from a year ago. By comparison, the typical new home buyer’s monthly payment has risen 5%, to $3,037, nearly double the pace.

A buyer’s monthly payment is climbing nearly twice as fast as rent, and for some shoppers, that gap is the start of a different plan. These deliberate renters keep their housing costs lower, put the difference toward saving and investing, and build wealth without a mortgage.

And for many home shoppers, what they still want is a house. ZORDI shows demand for single-family rentals up 21.6% from a year ago, more than double the 10.1% rise for multifamily rentals. At a typical rent of $2,266, renting a house offers the space and lifestyle shoppers want without a down payment or the hidden costs of owning, and it costs $771 less each month than a buyer’s monthly payment.

For shoppers weighing renting against buying, Zillow’s rent vs. buy research breaks down the break-even timeline by metro, that timeline being the number of years a household would need to own before buying comes out ahead.

Rental demand surges in the Bay Area and the Sun Belt

Rental demand rose the most in San Jose, where ZORDI is up 82.5% from a year ago, followed by San Francisco (66.9%), Austin (49.3%), Miami (48.9%) and Phoenix (43%).

Rent growth over the past year was also fastest in California’s Bay Area, where typical rent is up 11.8% in San Francisco and 8.3% in San Jose. In the other markets where demand has jumped the most, rent growth was more moderate, at 0.7% in Austin, 1.8% in Miami and 1% in Phoenix, as new construction has kept supply in step with demand.

Not every market is following the national trend. ZORDI is down year over year in markets that include Louisville (down 6.2%), Baltimore (-6.1%), Washington, D.C. (-5.6%) and Cleveland (-5.5%).

Affordability holds steady for renters

The median household spends 26.3% of its income on a new rental, essentially unchanged from a year ago, compared with 41.3% spent by a new homeowner. A household needs an income of $77,278 to afford a typical rental versus $121,496 to afford a typical home, a gap of more than $44,000.

Metro area*	Zillow Observed Renter Demand Index (ZORDI), YoY	Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)	Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), YoY	Typical monthly payment for a new homeowner (10% down, 30-year fixed)	Typical monthly payment for a new homeowner (10% down, 30-year fixed), YoY
United States	19.2%	$1,932	2.7%	$3,037	5.0%
New York, NY	19.3%	$3,546	4.2%	$6,296	8.6%
Los Angeles, CA	25.9%	$2,929	1.8%	$7,473	5.3%
Chicago, IL	21.6%	$2,163	4.7%	$3,120	8.5%
Dallas, TX	38.9%	$1,659	0.7%	$3,205	1.6%
Houston, TX	32.2%	$1,638	0.1%	$2,665	1.9%
Washington, DC	-5.6%	$2,407	1.4%	$4,673	4.1%
Philadelphia, PA	13.1%	$1,903	3.3%	$3,335	6.1%
Miami, FL	48.9%	$2,654	1.8%	$4,259	3.8%
Atlanta, GA	26.3%	$1,843	2.1%	$3,154	2.3%
Boston, MA	21.2%	$2,987	2.3%	$5,926	6.0%
Phoenix, AZ	43.0%	$1,720	1.0%	$3,400	3.1%
San Francisco, CA	66.9%	$3,445	11.8%	$8,931	7.1%
Riverside, CA	26.9%	$2,533	2.9%	$4,689	4.5%
Detroit, MI	8.4%	$1,514	4.2%	$2,267	5.5%
Seattle, WA	7.7%	$2,250	1.8%	$5,817	2.3%
Minneapolis, MN	21.0%	$1,736	3.5%	$3,341	5.4%
San Diego, CA	29.1%	$2,967	2.2%	$7,308	4.8%
Tampa, FL	23.2%	$1,991	0.4%	$3,128	2.8%
Denver, CO	19.6%	$1,900	0.0%	$4,457	2.2%
Baltimore, MD	-6.1%	$1,937	2.7%	$3,337	4.2%
St. Louis, MO	-1.1%	$1,427	4.1%	$2,377	6.8%
Orlando, FL	21.1%	$1,929	0.8%	$3,301	2.3%
Charlotte, NC	17.6%	$1,735	1.4%	$3,057	3.2%
San Antonio, TX	28.7%	$1,415	-0.7%	$2,430	1.8%
Portland, OR	15.7%	$1,803	1.1%	$4,394	3.7%
Sacramento, CA	22.8%	$2,269	1.8%	$4,633	3.9%
Pittsburgh, PA	7.7%	$1,467	3.5%	$1,995	3.9%
Cincinnati, OH	0.0%	$1,522	2.8%	$2,590	5.9%
Austin, TX	49.3%	$1,603	0.7%	$3,696	-0.6%
Las Vegas, NV	16.9%	$1,732	0.5%	$3,272	1.5%
Kansas City, MO	12.4%	$1,534	3.8%	$2,818	7.2%
Columbus, OH	4.0%	$1,525	2.9%	$2,813	4.9%
Indianapolis, IN	24.2%	$1,528	3.5%	$2,449	4.8%
Cleveland, OH	-5.5%	$1,440	4.5%	$2,217	7.3%
San Jose, CA	82.5%	$3,812	8.3%	$11,845	4.3%
Nashville, TN	15.0%	$1,803	1.2%	$3,558	3.5%
Virginia Beach, VA	40.0%	$1,886	7.1%	$3,095	6.6%
Providence, RI	-1.3%	$2,166	4.2%	$4,331	7.4%
Jacksonville, FL	35.5%	$1,680	2.2%	$3,037	3.6%
Milwaukee, WI	6.1%	$1,549	5.1%	$3,364	8.9%
Oklahoma City, OK	14.8%	$1,384	2.4%	$2,191	4.5%
Raleigh, NC	23.2%	$1,669	1.4%	$3,487	2.2%
Memphis, TN	19.0%	$1,393	1.1%	$2,116	3.7%
Richmond, VA	-2.7%	$1,706	2.5%	$3,182	6.5%
Louisville, KY	-6.2%	$1,339	2.0%	$2,337	5.3%
New Orleans, LA	7.9%	$1,577	1.7%	$2,424	4.8%
Salt Lake City, UT	7.4%	$1,644	0.7%	$4,337	5.1%
Hartford, CT	-2.9%	$1,998	3.5%	$3,580	8.5%
Buffalo, NY	24.0%	$1,451	3.8%	$2,274	7.6%
Birmingham, AL	23.9%	$1,404	2.9%	$2,116	6.3%

*Table ordered by market size

Rents

The typical asking rent is $1,932 in September, up 0.1% month-over-month. The pre-pandemic average month-over-month change for this time of year is 0%.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, rents have increased by 38.6%.
Rents are now up 2.7% from last year.
Rents fell, on a monthly basis, in 16 major metro areas. The largest monthly drops are in Boston (-0.6%), Richmond (-0.3%), Orlando (-0.3%), Chicago (-0.2%), and Denver (-0.2%).
Rents are up from year-ago levels in 49 of the 50 largest metro areas. Annual rent increases are highest in San Francisco (11.8%), San Jose (8.3%), Virginia Beach (7.1%), Milwaukee (5.1%), and Chicago (4.7%).

Single-Family Rents

The typical asking rent for single-family homes is $2,266 in September, up 0.1% month-over-month. Since the beginning of the pandemic, single-family rents have increased by 47.1%.
Single-family rents are now up 3.1% from last year.
Single-family rents fell, on a monthly basis, in 16 major metro areas. The largest monthly drops in single-family rents are in Boston (-0.9%), Seattle (-0.5%), Salt Lake City (-0.3%), Denver (-0.3%), and Richmond (-0.3%).
Single-family rents are up from year-ago levels in all 50 of the largest metro areas. Annual single-family rent increases are highest in San Jose (7.4%), San Francisco (6.7%), Providence (5.8%), Hartford (5.6%), and Virginia Beach (5.3%).

Multifamily Rents

The typical asking rent for multifamily homes is $1,762 in September, flat month-over-month. Since the beginning of the pandemic, multifamily rents have increased by 30.2%.
Multifamily rents are now up 2.2% from last year.
Multifamily rents fell, on a monthly basis, in 23 major metro areas. The largest monthly drops in multifamily rents are in Boston (-0.6%), Richmond (-0.5%), Orlando (-0.4%), Chicago (-0.4%), and Denver (-0.3%).
Multifamily rents are up from year-ago levels in 41 of the 50 largest metro areas. Annual multifamily rent increases are highest in San Francisco (12.7%), San Jose (8.6%), Virginia Beach (7.6%), Milwaukee (5%), and Chicago (4.6%).

Rent Concessions

39.6% of rentals on Zillow offered concessions in September.
The share of rental listings offering concessions increased by 0.3ppts month-over-month in September.
The share of rental listings offering concessions increased by 2.2ppts from last year.
The share of rentals with concessions is lower, on a monthly basis, in 17 major metro areas. The largest monthly drops in the share of rentals with concessions are in Jacksonville (-3.6ppts), Cincinnati (-1.9ppts), Baltimore (-1.7ppts), Raleigh (-1.4ppts), and San Diego (-1.3ppts).
The share of rentals with concessions is higher, on a monthly basis, in 33 major metro areas. The largest monthly increases in the share of rentals with concessions are in Salt Lake City (2.4ppts), Indianapolis (2.4ppts), Kansas City (2.2ppts), Providence (2.1ppts), and San Jose (2.1ppts).
Rent concessions are up from year-ago levels in 41 of the 50 largest metro areas. The annual increase in share of rental listings with concessions is highest in Cincinnati (12.8ppts), Indianapolis (9.2ppts), St. Louis (8.4ppts), Las Vegas (8ppts), and Houston (7.5ppts).

Rent Affordability

The median household would spend 26.3% of their income on a new rental in September.
Rent affordability was flat month-over-month in September. The pre-pandemic share of median household income spent on rent was 25.6%.
Rent affordability is now 0.1ppts down from last year.
The most affordable metro areas for rents are Austin (18.1%), Raleigh (18.2%), Salt Lake City (18.3%), St. Louis (19.5%), and Denver (19.6%).
The least affordable metro areas for rents are New York (39.7%), Miami (36.6%), Los Angeles (33.7%), Riverside (31.0%), and San Diego (30.1%).
Income needed to afford rent increased by 2.9% year-over-year in September to $77,278. Since pre-pandemic, the income needed to afford rent has increased by 37.7%.