2026 Apartment Rental Rates Increase .8% Year-Over-Year; Satisfied Renters Least Likely to Move
The national average rent in July 2026 was $1,663 per month for a one-bedroom and $1,930 per month for a two-bedroom, an increase of 0.8% year-over-year—but even with the increase, satisfied renters remain less likely to move. Turnover is costly to property owners.
AppFolio's 2026 Renter Preferences Report found that satisfied residents are 72% more likely to renew their lease and 34% less likely to plan a move. And, historically speaking, rent growth in 2026 is modest — well below the pandemic-era peaks — but trending back upward through the summer.
Rent by State — Current Levels and Change Since 2019
The table below, based on Zillow ZORI data through June 2026, shows where rents stand and how far they've climbed since before the pandemic:
| State | June 2026 Avg. Rent | Change Since 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $3,635 | +63.6% |
| California | $2,361 | +28.0% |
| Massachusetts | $2,356 | +38.8% |
| Connecticut | $2,187 | +58.6% |
| Rhode Island | $2,172 | +63.9% |
| New Jersey | $2,139 | +44.7% |
| Colorado | $2,096 | +51.4% |
| Florida | $1,963 | +45.4% |
| Alaska | $1,958 | +59.2% |
| New Hampshire | $1,864 | +43.1% |
| Nevada | $1,859 | +38.0% |
| Utah | $1,856 | +31.2% |
| Delaware | $1,842 | +50.9% |
| Vermont | $1,775 | +19.2% |
| Washington | $1,767 | +31.8% |
| Maryland | $1,748 | +39.6% |
| Maine | $1,730 | +52.8% |
| Oregon | $1,653 | +27.0% |
| Montana | $1,648 | +84.1% |
| Arizona | $1,636 | +35.8% |
| New Mexico | $1,632 | +48.9% |
| Virginia | $1,597 | +31.0% |
| Idaho | $1,588 | +42.2% |
| New York | $1,569 | +21.2% |
| Wyoming | $1,568 | +52.5% |
| North Carolina | $1,567 | +44.2% |
| South Carolina | $1,535 | +39.0% |
| Georgia | $1,469 | +44.0% |
| Mississippi | $1,466 | +46.3% |
| Texas | $1,395 | +28.2% |
| Michigan | $1,368 | +41.8% |
| Alabama | $1,333 | +31.7% |
| Tennessee | $1,333 | +26.5% |
| Nebraska | $1,297 | +32.5% |
| Louisiana | $1,292 | +21.3% |
| Minnesota | $1,275 | +18.8% |
| Pennsylvania | $1,267 | +25.2% |
| Kentucky | $1,243 | +34.7% |
| South Dakota | $1,237 | +29.3% |
| Wisconsin | $1,217 | +20.4% |
| Oklahoma | $1,189 | +33.9% |
| West Virginia | $1,188 | +14.9% |
| North Dakota | $1,180 | +27.8% |
| Illinois | $1,161 | +31.6% |
| Arkansas | $1,153 | +26.0% |
| Missouri | $1,138 | +28.2% |
| Ohio | $1,122 | +30.6% |
| Indiana | $1,111 | +32.7% |
| Kansas | $1,041 | +27.9% |
| Iowa | $1,026 | +12.7% |
What's Driving Rent Increases
Several overlapping forces are at work:
Supply and demand imbalance. Rising home prices have priced out many would-be buyers, forcing them to remain in the rental market, while the supply of new rental units has not kept pace. Construction boomed in the Sunbelt but is now slowing, which will tighten supply again.
Surging insurance costs. A significant and underappreciated factor. Federal Reserve research shows that multifamily property insurance costs increased from an average of $39 per unit per month in 2019 to $68 per unit in 2024 — a real increase of more than 75%. Landlords' rental revenues tend to rise in tandem with their insurance costs, suggesting these expenses are being passed through to tenants.
Operating costs broadly. New York City's Rent Guidelines Board found that operating costs for apartment buildings rose 6.3% in a single year, with insurance up 18.7%, utilities up 8.2%, fuel up 10.3%, and labor costs up 3.7%. These pressures exist in some form in every market.
Mortgage rates locking in homeowners. Owners with low pre-2022 mortgage rates are staying put rather than selling, shrinking the housing supply available to would-be buyers and pushing more people into renting longer.
Migration patterns. Migration from large, supply-constrained cities to smaller markets has overwhelmed those markets' ability to rapidly add supply, driving prices up substantially. Montana is an extreme example, with rents up 84% since 2019 as remote workers flooded in.
Shrinking construction pipeline. CBRE has stated that as the construction pipeline shrinks, strong renter demand will lower vacancy rates and precipitate above-average rent growth. The 2023–2025 apartment construction boom is winding down, which means the supply relief that held rents in check is fading.
Property taxes and labor. Rising municipal assessments and higher wages for maintenance and building staff add to landlord costs that are ultimately reflected in rents.
The Bottom Line
Rent growth in 2026 is modest by recent standards — roughly 0.8% nationally year-over-year for apartments — but that figure masks wide geographic variation. Still, there is flux in the market, and turnover is costly to apartment building owners. Satisfied renters are less likely to move, reducing owners’ turnover expenses.