- The median asking rent rose 1.7% ($30) year over year to $1,790 in July. Shrinking supply may be tilting the balance of power toward landlords.
- Still, asking rents were below their record high and grew at a slower pace than wages.
- San Jose and Chicago saw the biggest increases in asking rents, while Jacksonville and Austin saw the biggest declines.
- Redfin debuted a new rental methodology to report on asking rents for apartments in buildings with 25+ units.
The median U.S. asking rent rose 1.7% ($30) year over year to $1,790 in July—the largest increase since January 2023.
July marked the second-consecutive year-over-year increase (the median asking rent rose 0.4% in June) following over two years of declining or flat rents.
The median asking rent climbed 0.8% on a month-over-month basis in July.
“Asking rents may be climbing because shrinking apartment supply is coinciding with growing renter demand, which is being fueled by the high cost of homeownership,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “Rents have been sluggish for the past two years because the pandemic building boom created a surplus of supply, which left landlords scrambling to fill vacancies and gave renters negotiating power. But now a slowdown in apartment construction may be shifting the balance of power toward landlords.”
Permits to build multifamily housing have fallen 23.1% since the pandemic construction boom as sluggish rents and high borrowing costs for builders have made building less attractive, Redfin reported this week.
In many parts of the country, renters have had success asking for concessions like free parking or reduced rent, but those perks could dry up as supply shrinks.
While the median asking rent is ticking up, it’s worth noting that it remains $70 below the July 2022 record high of $1,860. Wages are also growing faster than asking rents, indicating that rental affordability is actually improving.
This report marks the debut of Redfin’s new rental methodology. Previously, we reported on median asking rents for units in buildings with 5+ units using data from Rent. We now report on median asking rents for units in buildings with 25+ units using data from Zillow, who Redfin partnered with in February. We report on rolling three-month periods; this report focuses on asking rents during the three months ending July 31, 2025, which we refer to as “July.”
San Jose Posts Biggest Increase in Asking Rents, Jacksonville Posts Biggest Decrease
In San Jose, CA, the median asking rent rose 8.8% year over year in July to $3,569—the biggest increase and the highest level among the 43 major core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) Redfin analyzed. Chicago saw the second-biggest increase (8.6%), followed by Washington, D.C. (8.5%), Pittsburgh (7.7%) and Philadelphia (7.5%).
Some of these metros may be seeing rents jump because new supply has been shrinking. Permits to build apartments in San Jose have fallen 74.5% since the pandemic—the second biggest decline among the 78 metros analyzed in a separate report. Philadelphia posted the fifth-largest decline in permits, down 62.1%.
Only seven of the metros Redfin analyzed in this report saw asking rents fall, led by Florida and Texas. Jacksonville, FL saw the biggest decline (-3.5%), followed by Austin, TX (-2.6%), Louisville, KY (-2.4%), Cincinnati (-1.7%), Phoenix (-1.1%), Cleveland (-1%) and Orlando, FL (-0.2%).
Again, it’s likely a supply story. Florida and Texas are permitting more multifamily housing than other parts of the country. Austin granted permits to build 63.6 multifamily units for every 10,000 people over the past year—the second highest among the metros Redfin analyzed. Orlando and Jacksonville are also near the top of the list when it comes to permitting.
Asking Rents Are Rising Fastest for 0-1 Bedroom Apartments
The median asking rent for 0-1 bedroom apartments rose 3.4% year over year to $1,650 in July—the biggest increase since September 2022. For 2 bedroom apartments, it increased 1.7% to $1,907—the largest jump since November 2022. And for 3+ bedroom apartments, it fell 1.5% to $2,192—the lowest level for this time of year since 2021.
Metro-level Summary: Three Months Ending July 31, 2025
The table below includes 43 of the 50 most populous U.S. CBSAs—those with sufficient rental data.
| Core-based statistical area (CBSA) | Median asking rent | Month-over-month change in median asking rent | Year-over-year change in median asking rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | $1,698 | 0.6% | 1.5% |
| Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | $1,519 | -0.7% | -2.6% |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $1,846 | 2.3% | 5.0% |
| Birmingham-Hoover, AL | $1,400 | 3.4% | 5.7% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $3,165 | 0.0% | 7.3% |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $1,656 | 0.3% | 4.5% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $2,270 | 0.9% | 8.6% |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | $1,519 | -0.4% | -1.7% |
| Cleveland-Elyria, OH | $1,505 | 1.3% | -1.0% |
| Columbus, OH | $1,439 | -0.7% | 1.0% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $1,561 | -0.1% | 1.8% |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | $1,895 | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $1,430 | 0.6% | 2.1% |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $1,449 | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | $1,449 | 0.0% | 4.3% |
| Jacksonville, FL | $1,534 | -0.1% | -3.5% |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | $1,586 | 0.3% | 2.6% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $2,886 | 0.5% | 3.1% |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $1,313 | -0.5% | -2.4% |
| Memphis, TN-MS-AR | $1,299 | 1.9% | 3.8% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | $2,658 | -0.2% | 0.5% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $1,625 | 0.1% | 2.4% |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | $1,710 | 0.9% | 2.4% |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $3,194 | 0.7% | 2.7% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $1,829 | -1.0% | -0.2% |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $2,015 | 1.0% | 7.5% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $1,582 | -0.4% | -1.1% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $1,695 | 1.2% | 7.7% |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $1,730 | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | $2,375 | -0.3% | 5.7% |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | $1,539 | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| Richmond, VA | $1,629 | 0.2% | 2.5% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $2,414 | 0.5% | 2.2% |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $2,138 | 0.0% | 3.6% |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $1,630 | -0.3% | 1.9% |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $2,960 | 0.5% | 4.0% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | $2,979 | 0.5% | 5.9% |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $3,569 | 1.0% | 8.8% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $2,160 | 0.9% | 6.4% |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | $1,400 | 0.1% | 1.1% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $1,898 | -0.1% | 3.5% |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | $1,645 | -0.2% | 3.3% |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $2,424 | 0.9% | 8.5% |
Methodology
Median asking rent figures in this report cover newly listed units in apartment buildings with 25 or more units. The median is calculated based on a rolling three-month period, i.e., the median asking rent for July 2025 covers rentals that were listed on Redfin.com during the three months ending July 31, 2025. Rental records date back to 2019.
Metro-level data in this report cover 43 of the 50 most populous U.S. core-based statistical areas (CBSAs)—those with sufficient rental data. The national figures are based on data for the entire U.S.
Asking rents reflect the current costs of new leases during each time period. In other words, the amount shown as the median asking rent is not the median of what all renters are paying, but the median asking price of apartments that were available for new renters during the report period.
