Renting appears to be becoming more affordable across the country as the typical rent burden fell below the 30% of income rental affordability rule of thumb in most markets, according to Realtor.com’s April rent report. The study found that renters owning a typical household income spent 23.4% of their income to lease a typical for-rent home, down from 24.7% in April 2024.
Only five of the top 50 U.S. metros had a rent share greater than 30% relative to the median household income. Those markets are Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida, with a rent burden of 37.9%; New York-Newark-Jersey City, New Jersey, at 37.1%; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California, at 35.6%; Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts and New Hampshire at 32.6%; and San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California, at 31.1%.
The median asking rent in April settled at $1,699, up $5 from the previous month but $60 below its August 2022 peak, according to Realtor.com. New multifamily deliveries are slowing the pace of rental increases and have pushed the vacancy rate to 7.1%, the highest it has been since the third quarter of 2018. This higher vacancy rate is creating a more advantageous environment for renters, said Realtor.com.
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“Generally, small but steady rent declines have chipped away at rental costs for nearly 3 years, and income growth has boosted household buying power,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “While this is good news, rent prices are still roughly 20% above pre-pandemic levels, and consumers have expressed concerns about their job security and financial situation in recent surveys."
Although it was the least affordable rental market in April, Miami has made significant affordability improvements over the past year, along with Tampa, according to the report. So far this year, Western metros including San Diego, Denver and Phoenix also have been making affordability gains.
However, renters are finding the most affordable prices in Oklahoma City, where the median rent for a typical 0-2 bedroom unit represented only 55.6% of the estimated maximum affordable rent. April 2025 median rent in the market was just $994 and required only 16.7% of average annual income for renters.
Following Oklahoma City in affordability is the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas, metro, where median rent is $1,470 and needs only 17.2% of a renter’s annual income. Columbus, Ohio, was the country's third-most affordable market, requiring 18% of annual income to afford the median rent of $1,210.
Ranking fourth in April was Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina, with a median rent of $1,489, requiring 18.2% of renters’ annual income. And in fifth place was Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota-Wisconsin, with a median rent of $1,497, which represents 18.5% of annual income.
Realtor.com said elevated rents when compared with pre-pandemic levels align with the increase in overall consumer prices during the same six-year period. Notably, the rent increase since 2019 is significantly less than the 54% surge in the median price per square foot of for-sale home listings over the same timeframe. The firm said the relative steadiness in rents should translate into slower shelter inflation in the coming months.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
