Austin Rent Prices: What the Data Shows

Austin spent the pandemic as the poster child for runaway rent. The data in 2026 tells the opposite story. After a boom-and-bust cycle, rents have cooled so much that Austin is now one of the better values among fast-growing US cities. The median rent is about $1,595, actually below the national median of roughly $1,951. Here is what the numbers show.

What rent costs in Austin right now

The citywide median sits near $1,595, up just 1.9% over the past year, essentially flat. Against a median household income near $93,658, the typical renter spends only about 20% of gross income on a median apartment, comfortably under the 30% affordability line and a rarity among major metros.

The five-year picture

Here is the headline. Over the past five years, Austin rent is up only about 7%, one of the smallest increases of any large US city and a fraction of the 30% to 40% seen in overheated markets. Austin ran up fast during the pandemic tech rush, then gave much of it back as a wave of new apartment construction hit the market and demand normalized. The result is a city that added enormous supply and let renters catch their breath.

The suburbs

The suburban ring runs slightly higher than the city, reflecting newer construction and family demand. Pflugerville is about $1,702, Cedar Park about $1,690, Round Rock about $1,664, and Georgetown about $1,642. For the cheapest option in the metro, San Marcos, the college town to the south, runs about $1,410.

How Austin compares

Austin is now priced right alongside the other big Texas metros rather than above them. It sits between Dallas at about $1,648 and Houston at about $1,566, with San Antonio the cheapest of the group at $1,372. A few years ago Austin was the expensive outlier of Texas. It is not anymore.

Is it a good deal?

By our Rent Reality Score, Austin lands at 79, one of the stronger value readings among big cities, meaning rents are sitting well below the city's own long-term trend. Combine that with a below-national median, flat year-over-year growth, and a low rent-to-income ratio, and Austin has gone from cautionary tale to genuine bargain, at least for now. See the full Austin rent data, check where it lands on our best-value rankings, or compare it to Dallas and Houston in the compare tool.

Sources

Rent figures: RentDataNow, June 2026, with medians and five-year history anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index. Median household income: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.