Zillow’s September report puts the typical U.S. rent at $1,932, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier and the biggest annual gain since April 2025. The increase works out to about $51 more a month than a year ago, or roughly $610 over a lease year. Annual rent growth has sped up every month since April and now shows in both apartment buildings and single-family rentals. The report, published October 6, describes a rental market that keeps gaining strength while the market for buying homes slows.
The fastest annual rent gain in 17 months
The figure comes from the Zillow Observed Rent Index, which measures the typical rent across the country. Mischa Fisher, who wrote the report, set the national number beside a sharp contrast in the for-sale market, where newly pending home sales fell 8.5 percent as mortgage rates reached their highest level since November 2023. Renting, in that account, is where the pressure is building. Rent rose 0.1 percent from August to September, a small monthly step that still added to a yearly climb already running faster than at any point since spring 2025.
The speed of the change is the new part. Zillow’s September market report says annual rent growth has accelerated every month since April, and that the increase is widespread rather than limited to one housing type. Multifamily rents and single-family rents are both rising. A renter who moved from an apartment to a rented house, hoping to find a cheaper corner of the market, would meet higher prices in either one.
The 2.7 percent national figure also hides a wide spread between cities. Renters on a fixed benefit, a pension or a Social Security check face the same lease renewal as anyone else, but their income does not rise when the landlord’s notice arrives. A $51 monthly increase is small against a $1,932 rent and large against a budget that was already set for the year, which is why the city-by-city numbers matter more than the national average.
Rent figures change every month; The Retirement Money Brief will cover the next step in plain English when it happens.
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Where rents are jumping and where they are flat
The biggest increases are on the coasts and in a few Midwestern and mid-Atlantic metro areas. San Francisco’s typical rent rose 11.8 percent to $3,445, the largest gain of the 52 metro areas in Zillow’s table. San Jose followed at 8.3 percent, reaching $3,812, the highest rent on the list. Virginia Beach rose 7.1 percent to $1,886, Milwaukee 5.1 percent to $1,549, and Chicago 4.7 percent to $2,163. Cleveland, at 4.5 percent, and New York, at 4.2 percent, also ran well above the national rate.
At the other end, several large Sun Belt and Mountain West markets barely moved. Denver’s typical rent was unchanged from a year earlier at $1,900, Houston rose 0.1 percent to $1,638, and Tampa rose 0.4 percent to $1,991. Dallas and Austin each gained 0.7 percent. San Antonio was the only one of the 52 metro areas to post a decline, down 0.7 percent to $1,415. The cheapest market on the list was Louisville at $1,339, where rent rose 2 percent.
Those gaps mean a national headline can mislead in both directions. A renter in Chicago or Milwaukee faces increases well above the 2.7 percent average, while a renter in Houston or Denver may find a landlord willing to hold the line. Dollar amounts differ as much as percentages do: a 4.2 percent rise in New York, where the typical rent is $3,546, adds far more each month than the same percentage in Detroit, where the typical rent is $1,514.
Concessions, affordability and the government’s own rent gauge
Zillow also tracked how often landlords sweetened the deal. In September, 39.6 percent of rental listings on its site offered a concession, such as a month of free rent or a waived fee, up from 37.4 percent a year earlier and from 39.3 percent in August. A rising share of concessions can soften what a tenant actually pays in the first year of a lease while the advertised rent still climbs, and it suggests that some landlords are competing for tenants even as the typical rent goes up.
The federal government’s own measure shows a similar direction at a slower pace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its August consumer price index release, published September 11, that the shelter index rose 0.3 percent in August and 3.0 percent over the previous 12 months, while the index for rent alone rose 0.2 percent in the month. Overall consumer prices were up 3.4 percent from a year earlier. Shelter therefore ran slightly below overall inflation, and Zillow’s 2.7 percent sits a little under both. The two measures are built differently, so they are not interchangeable.
Zillow’s affordability measure adds a reassuring note for one kind of household. A household earning the median income would need to spend 26.3 percent of that income on the typical rent in September, down from 26.4 percent a year earlier and unchanged from August. Median-income wages, in other words, have so far kept pace with rent for the average household. That figure says nothing about households living on benefits or savings, whose income does not rise with the labor market, and it does not describe the cities where rent is climbing fastest.
Rental help through a local housing agency
The federal help most directly tied to rent is the Housing Choice Voucher program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development says on its voucher page for tenants that around 2,000 local public housing agencies administer the program with HUD funding, and that applicants must apply through their local agency. Documentation typically includes income paperwork, proof of citizenship and Social Security cards, and applicants must meet income limits.
Approved applicants are usually placed on a waiting list, and selection depends on how many vouchers are available, the date of the application and any local preferences, such as veteran or disabled status. HUD warns that applicants must keep the agency informed of address and household changes or risk being removed from the list. Once a voucher is issued, the household’s share is usually 30 percent of adjusted monthly income, though it can be as high as 40 percent, and the agency pays the landlord the difference.
Whether rent growth keeps accelerating is the open question. Zillow’s report shows five straight months of faster annual growth, a rising share of concessions and a median-income household still paying 26.3 percent of income, so the pressure is concentrated in particular cities rather than spread evenly. The next Zillow report will show whether the 0.1 percent monthly gain was a pause or the start of a slower stretch, and the BLS shelter index will show whether the government’s gauge follows.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Money Overview’s editorial team.
