House & Home - Most Expensive Rental Markets

 

Where is renting still painfully expensive despite a cooling market? Lawn Love ranked 2025’s Most Expensive Metro Areas for Renters, comparing 196 of the largest U.S. markets across 7 factors covering adjusted rent prices, affordability, and market trends. A general rule of thumb is the “30% rule,” which suggests your monthly rent should not exceed 30% of your gross monthly income. But in nearly 30% of ranked metros, renters are already over that limit.  A sneak peek? Florida and California dominate the top 25, claiming 16 spots. But not every expensive market is still on the rise.

“I’m surprised that some of the high-demand markets are seeing rent declines over the past year,” says Editor-in-Chief, Sharon Sullivan. “Generally in a market like that, rents will increase. Landlords can get top dollar monthly when renters are competing for homes or apartments.”

Cities like Austin, Denver, San Antonio, and Phoenix saw year-over-year rent declines, even with strong demand. How do some of the largest U.S. metros stack up? (Population 450,000+) New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA: 1st Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL: 2nd Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: 4th Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI: 47th Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA: 77th Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 95th Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX: 101st Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 119th Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ: 128th Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: 129th   Key insights: Renters hand over at least a quarter of their paycheck to keep a roof over their head in two-thirds of ranked metros.  The nation’s highest rents show up in New York City apartments, where rents eat up about 42% of income, and in Santa Barbara single-family rentals claim nearly 66% of income. Florida claims 11 of the top 25 most expensive metros for renters, including 3 in the top 10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (No. 2), Naples-Marco Island (No. 6), and Gainesville (No. 11) face some of the highest rent-to-income ratios in the country, with more than 6 in 10 renters spending over 30% of their income on housing and utilities.  The bottom 25 showcases some large metros, including Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX (No. 187), Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (No. 178), and Salt Lake City, UT (No. 177). These areas are among the more affordable, with typical renters spending closer to 15% of income on rent while benefiting from big-city economies and amenities.

Check out the whole story and ranking here: https://lawnlove.com/blog/most-expensive-metro-areas-to-rent/ Other helpful links: Q&A with Lawn Love’s editors Methodology   More from Lawn Love: Top Cities for Tree Huggers Fire It Up: 2025’s Best Cities for a Meaty Cookout Best Metro Areas for Football Fans Is Lawn Care Tax Deductible for Rental Properties? Worst Cities for Grass Allergies This Summer