Rent Prices Are Falling—but These 5 Coastal Cities Remain the Least Affordable
Rents across the U.S. may have been falling for nearly two years, but five large coastal metros stood out last month as having the nation's least affordable rental markets—including one of Florida's hottest tourist destinations.
Miami was ranked as the least affordable of the top 50 metros, according to the Realtor.com® April 2025 Rental Report. The median rent in April was $2,345—meaning, a typical household would have to spend roughly 38% of their monthly paycheck on housing.
A rent is considered affordable if tenants spend no more than 30% of their gross household income. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines cost-burdened households as those paying more than 30%.
When it comes to the Miami market, rents are $500 higher than what they should be if they were to fall within that affordability range.
'This improvement is needed, but rents are still pretty unaffordable in Miami,' says Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu.
Four other major coastal hubs mirrored Miami's trajectory, showing year-over-year improvement in their rent-to-income ratios, yet remaining unaffordable for many people.
A typical family living in a leased unit in New York City in April had to spend more than 37% of their income on a median rent of $2,936, while in Los Angeles the rent share of income was 35.6% and the median rent stood at $2,712.
Boston had the fourth-worst rent-to-income ratio last month, with a household having to spend more than 32% of its paycheck to afford a $2,968 monthly rental property—the second-highest rent among the 50 tracked metros, trailing only San Jose, CA.
San Diego rounded out the top five least-affordable rental markets, with locals having to set aside more than 31% of their income to pay $2,669 in rent for a typical unit.
'Encouragingly, the rent-to-income ratio in all five of these metros has declined compared to the same time last year, signaling a modest improvement in affordability across these most cost-burdened markets,' notes Xu.
In more positive news for renters, April marked the 21st consecutive month of annual rent declines, with rents down $29 from the same time a year ago.
The median rent in the 50 largest metros was $1,699, which was $5 higher than in March, but $60 lower than its August 2022 peak.
Xu points out that the month-over-month uptick is seasonal, as rents tend to rise in the spring and summer, before edging down in the fall and winter.
'However, this spring's monthly increase was more modest than last year's, signaling a cooling rental market,' adds the economist.
The rental market's slower pace is mostly driven by the construction of more multifamily units, which has helped ease the upward pressure on prices, says Xu. As a result, the national rental vacancy rate surged to 7.1% in the first quarter of 2025, the highest level in nearly seven years.
When looking at rent prices by unit size, studios and one-bedroom properties were down 1.9% year over year nationally, settling at $1,410 and $1,578, respectively, while rents on two-bedroom units declined by 1.7%, to $1,887.
Overall affordability also slightly improved last month from a year ago. Renters earning the typical household income of $7,263 spent 23.4% of their paycheck to lease a property, compared with 24.7% in April 2024.
Among the 50 markets analyzed for the report, Oklahoma City, OK, emerged as April's most affordable city, with the typical family spending just 16.7% of their monthly paycheck on the median rent of $994.
Other top affordable rental markets included Austin, TX, Columbus, OH, Raleigh, NC, and Minneapolis, with the rent share of income in those cities ranging from 17.2% to 18.5%.
Across all the tracked markets, Kansas City, MO, was the sole outlier where the share of income spent on rent edged up in April, reaching 20.7%, a 1.1 percentage-point increase from a year ago.
'Fortunately, this is still below the recommended share, but the trend indicates a growing cost burden for Kansas City renters,' says Xu.
In Milwaukee, the rent-to-income ratio also showed no annual improvement, remaining flat with last year, at 26.8%.
Looking at the most improved markets in terms of affordability, San Diego topped the list in April, after the share of income needed to afford a median rent in the California metro dropped from 35% last year to 31.1.%.
Denver, Jacksonville, FL, Miami, Birmingham, AL, and Phoenix—all located in either the South or the West—saw their rent-to-income ratios shrink from April 2024, meaning that people in those metros spent less of their monthly paycheck on housing needs.
'The primary driver behind this trend in both regions is the increase in new rental supply, which is helping to ease rent pressures,' says Xu. Exclusive Surf Club Community in Austin Draws A-List Buyers, Including Matthew McConaughey and Drew Brees
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