Nearly a third of Frisco renters moved within two years, these are the cities where renters move most often
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Add RentDataNow on GoogleIn Frisco, 29.3% of renter households moved into their current home within roughly the past two years. In New York the figure is 11.7%, and in San Bernardino it's 10.6%.
Where renters move the most
City | Renters who moved in 2021 or later | Typical rent | Year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
Frisco, TX | 29.3% | $1,852 | +6.7% |
29.2% | $2,729 | +4.1% | |
28.7% | $1,806 | +7.4% | |
28.6% | $2,068 | +1.3% | |
28.1% | $1,621 | -0.5% | |
28.0% | $1,380 | +0.5% | |
27.6% | $1,884 | +3.2% | |
26.7% | $1,610 | +3.3% | |
26.6% | $2,238 | +2.0% | |
26.4% | $1,625 | +3.1% |
Two kinds of city fill this table. Frisco, McKinney, Gilbert, and Denver are growth markets where new apartments keep opening and new residents keep arriving, so a large share of leases are recent by definition. Madison, Lubbock, and Austin are university cities where a chunk of the renter population turns over every year on the academic calendar.
Arlington is the outlier, a high-rent city with high churn, and the reason is the federal and defense workforce that cycles through on assignment.
Where renters stay put
City | Renters who moved in 2021 or later | Typical rent | Year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
San Bernardino, CA | 10.6% | $2,013 | +6.0% |
10.7% | $2,123 | -0.7% | |
11.4% | $3,142 | +2.5% | |
New York, NY | 11.7% | $4,170 | +16.0% |
11.7% | $2,781 | 0.0% | |
12.2% | $1,347 | +3.9% |
This second table where renters stay put is the more revealing one. New York renters stay because a large share hold rent-stabilized leases they can't replace, so moving means giving up a below-market rent for a market one. Santa Ana, Fontana, and San Bernardino renters stay because they're doubled up in the most crowded rental markets in the country, and a household that took years to fit into an apartment doesn't leave it casually.
Detroit and Newark round it out with a different mechanism, where low renter incomes mean a deposit and a moving truck are a real barrier, so people stay in units they'd otherwise leave.
What churn tells a renter
High churn is a sign of a market with slack. Units turn over, landlords compete for the next tenant, and a renter who wants to move usually can. It's not an accident that Madison and Gilbert, two of the highest-churn cities, posted rent changes of -0.5% and +1.3% this year.
Low churn in an expensive city is a warning. It means the people already housed are holding on, which keeps listings scarce and pushes the price of any vacancy that does appear. New York's combination of 11.7% churn and a 16.0% rent jump is exactly what that looks like, and we covered the inventory side of it in Manhattan's vanishing listings.
The Census Bureau figures come from the 2023 five-year survey, so recent movers means roughly 2021 through 2023. That's a slightly lagged view, but tenure patterns shift slowly and the ranking holds.
Sources
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, table B25038, tenure by year householder moved into unit, 2023 five-year estimates
RentDataNow city rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, June 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Which cities have the highest renter turnover?
Frisco, Texas leads with 29.3% of renter households having moved in during 2021 or later, followed by Arlington, Virginia at 29.2%, McKinney at 28.7%, and Gilbert at 28.6%. Fast-growing suburbs and university cities dominate the list.
Where do renters stay the longest?
San Bernardino at 10.6% recent movers, Newark at 10.7%, Fontana at 11.4%, and New York and Santa Ana at 11.7%. In most of these, renters stay because leaving means losing a stabilized lease or a doubled-up arrangement they cannot replace.
Does renter turnover affect rent prices?
Yes, in both directions. High churn means units turn over and landlords compete, which held Madison and Gilbert rents nearly flat. Low churn in an expensive city keeps listings scarce, and New York's 11.7% churn came with a 16.0% rent increase.
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Henry Jo is a housing analyst covering rent data, affordability, city comparisons, and much more. He started following rental data while apartment hunting in two cities at once, and he lives in the Pacific Northwest.
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