Rent prices in the 25 biggest US cities: 18 are at record highs, and San Francisco is up 59% in five years

Typical US rent was $1,932 a month in September 2026, up 2.9% from a year earlier and 22% since September 2021, according to RentDataNow data built on the Zillow Observed Rent Index. In the 25 most populous US cities, it ranges from $1,381 in San Antonio to $4,784 in San Francisco, and 18 of the 25 hit a record high in September.

San Francisco is in a category of its own. Its typical rent is up 26.3% in a year and 58.8% since 2021, and at $4,784 it has passed New York as the most expensive of the 25. New York and Chicago are the other big gainers, up 5.3% and 5.8% in a year and more than 40% over five years.

The Sun Belt boom towns look very different now. Austin's typical rent is up just 9.6% since 2021 and remains 10.4% below its July 2022 peak. San Antonio and Houston are slightly lower than a year ago, and Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, and Washington, DC are all a bit below their earlier highs. Those seven are the only cities on the list not at a record.

The fastest five-year gains outside the coasts are in places that started cheap. Indianapolis, El Paso, Columbus, and Oklahoma City are all up about 29% to 36% since 2021, though each is still among the least expensive big cities. Typical rent across the US is up 22.4% over the same five years, from $1,579.

These figures cover houses, condos, and apartments, so they run higher than apartment-only trackers. For how the major rent indexes compare, see every rent tracker compared, and for how these rents stack up against local incomes, the rent-to-income ratio in the 50 largest cities.

Sources

• RentDataNow city rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, 2021 to September 2026; the 25 most populous US cities