This City is Where Renters Want to Be

The results are in from RentCafe’ s most recent look in August of where renters want to be, and Arlington, Va., near the nation’s capital, is the hands-down favorite. It has now led the top 30 list for two consecutive months. Gaining a ranking on this list indicates cities that experienced the most engagement on RentCafe.com due to high rates of rental properties saved to favorites, personalized searches, scarce unit availability and overall high listing views.

Though East Coast Arlington was the favorite and touted for its strong job market and good public transportation network into Washington, D.C., it’s the Midwest that’s the most popular region. In August, it had 10 cities on this list, including for second, third and fourth spots. Kansas City, Mo., came in second, moving up three places from No. 5 in July. The other two strong Midwestern contenders are Minneapolis and Cincinnati, taking third and fourth spots, respectively. Fifth went to Denver out West, which moved up six places from July.

Another noteworthy result is that the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Queens climbed higher, less well known than millennial-favorite Brooklyn and all its many neighborhoods. The ‘burbs near Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., also fared well. Some newbies made it onto the list of the top 30, including three of Phoenix’s suburbs of Chandler, Gilbert and Peoria, which offer easy access to Phoenix.

This list is particularly significant since it’s become common banter that renting is the new form of buying as home prices have climbed, inventory has shrunk and too many simply don’t have the funds for a down payment. There are also many who continue to rent by choice and avoid the costs and hassles of homeownership, particularly as qualified work staff are hard to find in many areas.

Following is more trending information on where people are considering going, especially now that work from home continues full- or part-time and as the Covid-19 virus has waned, though of late it’s picked up steam in some areas.

Though the Midwest was the most popular region with 10 entries out of the 30, the South came in a close second with nine locations, including Atlanta at No. 7, the same ranking it had last month. The third most popular region was the West with seven entries.

Another finding is that many aren’t headed to dense downtowns where many offices and cultural attractions are located but to apartments in suburbs that provide easy access to those urban cores and possibly more space at lower costs. Besides some Phoenix suburbs becoming more popular, so did Kansas City’s suburban Overland Park, which the report said is one of the most sought-after places in the country for apartment hunters. It climbed seven spots to be No. 11 in August.

Who else was new on the list? Detroit climbed 107 spots since July, the most of all the cities considered. Another location that rose in popularity was Arizona’s Chandler, moving to No. 20, in part since it’s considered part of the Silicon Desert area.