The Hottest U.S. Rental Markets

Renters are flooding the housing market in every corner of the country this spring. But which corners are seeing the most activity? The ones where living is more affordable and jobs are abundant.

A new study by RentCafe ranked the popularity of the 150 largest U.S. markets by tracking four metrics in each: the availability of apartments, listing views, listings saved as favorites, and saved personalized searches. Millions of interactions were analyzed, and activity from this March was compared to March 2022 to rank each rental market as more or less active.

Atlanta came out on top, with listings there seeing the most user engagement of any market in March. Kansas City, Mo., landed in second place, followed by Albuquerque. Though scattered around the country, these markets share important traits — they’re relatively inexpensive and have healthy economies, according to the report. Next up was Detroit, which trailed only Kansas City among Midwest markets. Listings saved as favorites in the Motor City grew by more than 400 percent over a year, and saved searches grew by 150 percent — signs of its revival.

Manhattan — with a 17 percent drop in available listings and a 31 percent jump in saved personalized searches since last March — came in fifth and topped the Northeast region. (Like the other New York City boroughs, it was included as an individual market. Nationally, the Bronx ranked 15th, Queens 53rd and Brooklyn 66th. Staten Island didn’t make the cut.)

Florida deserves a mention. The Sunshine State has been drawing buyers and renters eager for warm weather and low taxes. Orlando cracked the top 10, while Fort Lauderdale, a budget-friendly option to adjacent Miami, placed a respectable 25th. Properties marked as favorites in both the Orlando and Fort Lauderdale markets climbed more than 150 percent over a year.

This week’s chart shows the top results in each of four U.S. geographic regions.

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