January is the cheapest month to rent in most big US cities

If you get to choose when you move, pick winter. In 94 of the 100 largest US cities, asking rents usually hit their low point in December, January, or February, according to a RentDataNow analysis of Zillow's rent index going back to 2015. January is the cheapest month in 55 of those cities, December in 27, and February in 12.

Summer is when listings cost the most. Asking rents peak in June, July, or August in 91 of the 100 cities, and July alone is the high point in 48 of them. Averaged across all 100 cities, asking rents in July run about 1.5% above January's.

The gap is smaller than a lot of renters expect. A typical big city swings 1.7% between its cheapest and priciest month, which comes to about $34 a month on today's typical rent, or roughly $400 over a 12-month lease. These are seasonal patterns with each city's overall trend stripped out, so a city where rents are climbing fast can still cost more next January than it did this July.

Where waiting for winter saves the most

Boise has the widest seasonal swing of the 100 cities at 3.6%, with asking rents lowest in January and highest in July. Chicago and Seattle come next at 3.5%, followed by New York at 3.3%.

New York has the biggest gap in dollars, since its rents are so high to begin with. Typical asking rent there was $4,089 a month in September 2026, per Zillow, and the seasonal difference between January and August works out to $132 a month. Over a 12-month lease, that's $1,584. San Francisco's gap is $122 a month and Boston's is $91.

Boston also runs early. Its asking rents bottom out in November and top out in June, ahead of most big cities on both ends. Chicago and Denver hit their lows in December and peak in July, and Denver's swing of 2.8% adds up to $51 a month.

In the biggest Sun Belt metros the seasonal savings are modest. The gap is $20 a month in Houston, $25 in Phoenix, and $27 in Dallas. It's $34 in both Atlanta and Austin, while Los Angeles barely moves at 1.0%, or $27 a month.

The calendar matters least in Madison, Norfolk, Miami, and Newark, where the swing is 0.8% or less. Miami's gap is $25 a month on a typical rent of $2,965.

A handful of cities don't follow the winter-low pattern at all. Scottsdale flips it, with asking rents highest in December and lowest in July, which likely ties to its winter-visitor season. Irvine's low comes in April, and Norfolk and Chula Vista bottom out in March.

If your lease ends in summer, the lease length is the easiest thing to change. Asking for a 15-month or 18-month term moves your next renewal into winter, though landlords set those terms and may price them differently than a standard year. Keep in mind these figures track asking rents on new listings, not the offer you get at renewal, so they matter most when you're signing somewhere new.

Each city's page on RentDataNow shows its own month-by-month pattern, and the full list for all 100 cities is below.

The cheapest and priciest month to rent in the 100 largest US cities

Cities are sorted by the size of their seasonal swing. The monthly gap applies that swing to the city's typical asking rent in September 2026.