The most and least affordable cities for renters: Final 2024 data

FILE-A rent is shown in front of a home. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Renting a home is more expensive than the cost to rent an apartment for consumers in the market for housing based on 2024 data released by Zillow

The online real estate marketplace released a new market report revealing that rent for a single-family home is now 20% higher than typical apartment rents meaning it would cost a renter roughly $350 more monthly to rent a single-family home.

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Potential buyers are in a housing market mired by up-front costs and expensive mortgage rates, which is contributing to them settling for renting a home. 

Single family rents vs. multifamily rents

By the numbers:

Zillow reported that the average rent cost for single-family homes was $2,174 in December 2024, representing a 4.4% increase from last year and 40.6% over the past five years. 

Meanwhile, the asking rent for multifamily homes was $1,812 in December, which is 2.4% higher compared to 2023 and 26.2% over the past five years.

RELATED: US housing shortage grew to 4.5 million homes amid affordability crisis, data reveals

Zillow also noted that single-family home rents spiked 41% since before the pandemic, compared to 26% for multifamily rents. 

Separately, the income needed to afford rent spiked by 3.4% year-over-year in December to $78,592. Zillow noted that since before the pandemic, the income needed to afford rent has spiked by 33.4%.

Here are the most and least affordable cities for renters in the U.S., according to Zillow. 

Most affordable cities 

  1. Austin
  2. Minneapolis
  3. St. Louis
  4. Salt Lake City, Utah
  5. Milwaukee

Least affordable cities 

  1. Miami
  2. New York
  3. Los Angeles
  4. San Diego
  5. Riverside, California

How was the data gathered?

Zillow used its "Zillow observed index for December 2024" report to compare year-over-year growth and rental prices for single-family homes and multifamily homes in 50 U.S. cities. The report also analyzed rental affordability in these metro areas and rent concessions.

Rent concessions refer to a temporary discount or incentive that landlords can offer to make a rental more attractive, according to Redfin. 

What they're saying:

"Right now, more multifamily units are hitting the market than at any time in the past 50 years, but detached homes aren’t seeing the same surge in construction," Skylar Olsen, Zillow’s chief economist, said in a statement in the company’s release.

"We’ve also got the large millennial generation wanting to move into a larger space. High and unpredictable mortgage rates and hefty down payments are pushing some to rent that lifestyle instead of buying it. Similarly, discouraged, some homeowners may return to the market and sell to capitalize on record prices, rather than continue to wait for lower rates."


 

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