August Rental Activity Report: Arlington, VA, Is Most In-Demand City, NYC Boroughs Climb Closer to the Top

• Arlington, VA, is the most sought-after city by U.S. renters in our August Rental Activity Report, leading our top 30 for two consecutive months.
• The Midwest is this month’s most popular region with 10 cities in our ranking, including the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots.
• New York City boroughs the Bronx and Queens climbed closer to the top spot, with major hubs like Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., still among renters’ favorites.
• August’s string of new entries is dominated by Phoenix’s suburbs: Chandler, Gilbert and Peoria each land a spot in our top 30.

Renting is now the new buying as high home prices and the peak rental season bring out more renters looking for apartments. But, which cities are seeing the most listing activity and attracting the most attention from apartment hunters?

Arlington, VA, is August’s most desired city by renters, maintaining its top spot from last month. Kansas City, MO, comes next after climbing three spots from #5 in July. Fellow Midwestern hubs Minneapolis and Cincinnati take the third and fourth spots, respectively. Denver rounds out our top five in our August Rental Activity Report after moving up six positions since last month. Apartment listings in these cities saw the most engagement on RentCafe.com this month due to high rates of rental properties saved to favorites, personalized searches, scarce unit availability and overall high listing views.

Speaking of the Midwest, the region also dominates August’s top 30 cities with the most rental activity with 10 entries, followed by the South with nine destinations on our list. Meanwhile, with peak rental season well underway, renters are redirecting their search for apartments to suburban areas that offer easy access to big-city amenities. This helped Phoenix suburbs Chandler, Gilbert and Peoria enter our ranking as the newest most popular renting locations. As a result, this month, there are seven Western cities among the nation’s most sought-after places by renters.

At the same time, core urban living is still desirable. New York City’s the Bronx moved up three spots to #6, inching closer to the top. Not to be outdone, Queens — NYC’s largest borough — followed along, stopping at #13 this month, six positions higher than last month. Likewise, Philadelphia, Chicago and Houston continue their months-long presence among the nation’s top cities for rental activity.

Arlington is most in-demand city for renters in August

Below are this month’s top 10 cities for rental activity, as well as the biggest shifts in the last 30 days.

1. Arlington, VA

Arlington, VA, is August’s most sought-after city by renters looking for an apartment for rent on RentCafe.com, the same as last month. Apartment listings in the city attracted a significantly higher number of engagements compared to this time last year.

Specifically, traffic on Arlington listing pages more than doubled year-over-year, while renters favorited 72% more apartments and saved 38% more personalized searches. This continued (and growing) interest from apartment seekers in Arlington listings also helped the city keep its top spot for another month.

2. Kansas City, MO

Kansas City occupies the second spot in August after climbing three positions since last month. Notably, KCMO marks another month among the nation’s top five most sought-after cities by apartment hunters on RentCafe.com. The Midwest’s most coveted destination has been attracting renter interest due to its affordability and variety of rental options, but also its job opportunities and entertainment.

The appeal of Kansas City listings attracted double the traffic this month compared to last August. Plus, renters favorited 170% more apartments in the city and saved 83% more personalized searches. As such, KCMO ranks first among the country’s 150 largest cities for its rise in saved searches this month.

3. Minneapolis

Minneapolis also climbed three spots closer to the top this month, stopping at #3. With its diverse job opportunities and reputable education and research facilities, apartment listings in the city are among the most searched by renters on RentCafe.com.

This month, increased interest led to a 24% drop in the number of available apartments for rent in Minneapolis compared to last August. Similarly, views of listings in the city rose by nearly 70% year-over-year. Renters also added double the number of properties to their favorites list and saved 19% more personalized searches than a year ago. This helped this Midwestern city earn August’s bronze medal for rental activity on RentCafe.com.

4. Cincinnati

Cincinnati is another renter favorite, ranking fourth this month after dropping one spot since last month. This Midwestern city has been seeing increased engagement from renters, which helped it stay among the nations’ top five most in-demand cities this entire rental season.

In August, high demand led to a 3% decrease in the number of available listings compared to one year ago, as page views for Cincinnati rentals rose by 40%. At the same time, renters favorited 74% more apartments than a year ago, which shows their clear intent to move to the city.

5. Denver

Denver, the West’s highest-ranking city this month, rounds out August’s top five most in-demand cities for renters after climbing six spots from last month. This thriving city has been a particular favorite this rental season, constantly ranking in our top 30 locations with the most rental activity on RentCafe.com.

With 1% fewer available apartments for rent this month compared to last August, Denver is seeing high engagement rates from apartment seekers. Namely, the number of page views for Denver listings rose 40% year-over-year as the number of favorited properties surged 133%. Renters also find it useful to easily come back to their own personalized search for Denver rentals with their preferred filters, which led to a 12% increase in saved searches.

6. Bronx, NY

New York City’s most affordable borough climbed three spots closer to the top, making a stop at #6, its highest position in our ranking so far. The location also stands out as the most in-demand Northeastern hub on our list, the same as last month.

The number of available listings in the Bronx dipped by 34% compared to last August, a sign of increased interest for the borough. At the same time, traffic on listings pages for this location doubled year-over year as renters favorited 73% more apartments. This pushed the lively NYC borough further up on our list, closing in on our top five most in-demand locations.

7. Atlanta

This Southern gem continues to attract high search volumes on RentCafe.com, securing the #7 spot in our ranking, the same as last month. In fact, Atlanta has been a renter favorite this entire rental season, ranking in our top 10 each month since April, when it came in at #1.

Renters added 11% more Atlanta listings to their favorites list, which shows determination to move here. Despite some declines in this month’s stats, the high overall renter interest in the city has helped Atlanta stay up in our ranking.

8. Albuquerque, NM

Albuquerque comes in at #8 this month, the same as in July. This shows that renters continue to be attracted to this smaller, more affordable city in the West. As a matter of fact, Denver and Albuquerque are the West’s most desirable cities this August.

In particular, increased interest in the city led to a 3% drop in available apartments for rent on RentCafe.com. Traffic on Albuquerque listings pages soared by 168% year-over-year and renters favorited 57% more listings. This helped the city stay among the nation’s top 10 most sought-after cities by renters.

9. Orlando, FL

Florida’s most-wanted rental hub, Orlando, slid seven spots this month to #9, but it’s still one of the most searched destinations by renters on RentCafe.com. In fact, the city hasn’t left our top 10 this rental season and almost managed to reach the peak in July when it took the silver medal for rental activity.

With a modest 7% increase in available apartments, rental listings in Orlando attracted 32% more traffic this month compared to last August. Renters also favorited 73% more properties, indicating a clear intent to move to the sunny city. The overall high appeal of the city for apartment hunters also managed to offset the 14% decrease in saved searches, thereby helping Orlando rank ninth in August.

10. Durham, NC

One of the South’s most vibrant cities, Durham, jumped an impressive 17 spots up to #10. Its prestigious universities, research and tech jobs, as well as its historic charm make it attractive for renters looking for a more affordable, yet vibrant lifestyle.

This month, high demand for rentals led to a 17% decline in available listings in the city compared to last August. Plus, traffic on Durham listings pages rose 30%, while renters favorited four times more apartments in the city. In fact, this is August’s most significant surge in favorited properties among all of the 150 U.S. cities we looked at. This was enough to propel one of North Carolina’s most thriving cities into our top 10.

Cities in the Midwest & South are renters’ favorites, but suburban areas in the West are quickly catching up

The South is this month’s most sought-after region by renters, maintaining its momentum from last month. More precisely, it claims nine cities on our top 30 list, including the #1 spot. Additionally, there are a total of four Southern locations in August’s top 10 most in-demand cities for renters. The Midwest comes next with a total of 10 cities in our top 30, followed by the West with seven entries.

Meanwhile, the Midwest’s top city in August is Kansas City, coming in second nationwide after moving up three places since last month. Minneapolis and Cincinnati come next at #3 and #4, respectively, confirming the heartland’s appeal for renters. In this case, KCMO suburb Overland Park continues to be one of the most sought-after places in the country by apartment hunters on RentCafe.com after it climbed seven spots to #11 in August. Cleveland; Madison, WI; Detroit; Columbus, OH; and Indianapolis are other Midwestern cities that attracted high search volumes this month on RentCafe.com.

The Northeast counts four locations in our August ranking with the Bronx taking the spotlight at #6 — the highest it climbed so far. Queens, New York City’s largest borough, followed along and moved up six spots since last month to #13, right below major urban hub Philadelphia at #12 (the same as last month). Buffalo, NY, completes the list of most sought-after cities in the Northeast in August, ranking 28th, the same as it did in July.

Denver leads this month’s most popular cities in the West for renters, followed by Albuquerque, Portland and three Phoenix suburbs: Chandler, Gilbert and Peoria. Aurora, Colorado’s third most populous city, is the seventh Western location in our ranking, rounding out our top 30.

Speaking of populous cities, Chicago is a renter favorite this month at #25, nine spots lower than in July. Clearly, apartment seekers have been looking up Chicago listings and adding properties to their favorites list throughout the peak rental season, helping the city rank high.

Meet the newcomers: Detroit makes impressive comeback as Western suburbs gained traction

There are eight locations that have either made our August rental activity report ranking for the first time or rejoined the list after falling below our top 30 for a month or more.

Detroit is this month’s highest-ranking new entry at #18 after managing to climb an impressive 107 spots since last month — the most out of all the cities we considered. More precisely, the number of page views for Detroit rental listings increased by 65% year-over-year, as renters favorited 171% more apartments in the city, showing a clear intent to make the move to Motor City. Plus, this month, apartment seekers saved 40% more personalized searches compared to last August, boosting Detroit high up in our top 30 after the city missed our July ranking.

When it comes to remarkable comebacks, Chandler, AZ, is also worth a special mention. This Phoenix suburb jumped a whopping 68 spots since last month, landing at #20 in our August ranking. As part of the thriving Silicon Desert area, Chandler listings attracted 37% more views compared to last August. At the same time, renters favorited triple the number of properties in the city on RentCafe.com. Chandler was also part of our top 30 in our June and May rental activity reports.

The Phoenix metro’s appeal also pushed Gilbert, AZ, up 27 spots to #22 and Peoria, AZ, up 14 places to #29. Both suburbs are making our ranking for the first time after high demand led to a significant drop in the number of available apartments in each city (43% fewer in Gilbert and 16% fewer in Peoria) and an increase in page views for rental listings in each location (a 51% rise in Gilbert and a 63% increase in Peoria) on RentCafe.com.

Raleigh, NC, is also back on our list at #27 after sliding to the 36th spot last month from June’s top 10. With 1% fewer available listings and double the number of properties favorited by renters compared to last August, this North Carolina tech city continues to attract apartment hunters on RentCafe.com.

Birmingham, AL; Tulsa, OK; and Aurora, CO, are the other new entries in this month’s rental activity ranking.

Here's the full list of cities analyzed and their scores:

Methodology

RentCafe.com is a nationwide apartment search website that enables renters to easily find apartments and houses for rent throughout the U.S.

To compile this report, the research team analyzed RentCafe.com’s rental listing data across the 150 largest cities by population in the contiguous U.S. and with a relevant listing inventory sample. The regions are defined according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The cities were ranked based on a city-level rental activity score. Full points were awarded to the most desirable city for a particular metric, while the zero-point level was set slightly below the worst city’s value. Cities that lacked sufficient information regarding specific metrics were awarded zero points.

Beginning in August 2023, the city that obtained the highest total score was awarded 100 points and all total scores of the following cities were adjusted accordingly.

To calculate each city’s score, we ranked them according to four metrics and their averages as of the most current month in 2023 versus the same month in 2022.

1. Availability Rate (Maximum score: 40 points)

The availability rate score was calculated by dividing the total vacant units at the city level for the most recent month by the total units and a year-over-year comparison of the same. The lowest rate received maximum points.

2. Page Views (Maximum score: 30 points)

The page views score was calculated as the total number of monthly page views for the most recent month at the city level divided by the total renter population in the city and a year-over-year comparison of the same. Page views are defined as a unique user interaction on a specific page, in a 30-minute window.

3. Favorites (Maximum score: 15 points)

The favorites score was calculated as the total monthly rental listings added to favorites at the city level for the most current month divided by the total renter population in the city and a year-over-year comparison of the same. A favorite is defined as a rental listing saved to favorites by a website visitor.

4. Saved Searches (Maximum score: 15 points)

The saved searches score was calculated as the total number of monthly saved searches at the city level for the most current month divided by the total renter population in the city and a year-over-year comparison of the same. A saved search is defined as a filtered/personalized apartment search saved by a website visitor.

Fair use and redistribution

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