Gen Z renters—the fastest-growing active segment of the renter market in the US—are flocking to small towns in the heartland, in a trend that's completely opposite that of their millennial predecessors. 

And according to a new RentCafe study, those renters overwhelmingly prefer small, affordable towns in the Midwest and the South. The top trending markets for Gen Z renters included Greenville, N.C. (which has a 35% share of Gen Z renters); Little Rock, Ark. (34% share); North Little Rock, Ark. (31% share); Norfolk, Va. (30% share); and Lake Charles, La (33% share). And in 18 of the top 20 trending markets for Gen Z, the share of rental applications submitted increased by at least half over the year.

Greenville, a small town in North Carolina with fewer than 100,000 residents, saw the sharpest spike in apartment applications submitted by Gen Z, at 84%. The city is also the only college town in the RentCafe rankings.