Renters hunting for apartments during the recent peak rental and moving season often found themselves facing intense competition as they searched for living quarters because a high percentage of current tenants chose to renew their leases, reducing the number of apartments available despite a recent surge in apartment supply. Would-be renters also had to fight off rival contenders in some of the country's most desirable locations – even though some of those locations may be a little surprising.

Beating out Manhattan, Milwaukee, WI ranked as the third most competitive rental market in the nation. Omaha, NE listed seventh. Louisville, KY came in as the top trending rental market. The calculations are based on RentCafe's Rental Competitiveness Index (RCI) which recorded a score for the nation of 75.8, "meaning that the apartment market in the U.S. overall is very competitive in peak rental season." Peak season lasts from Memorial to Labor Day.

The RCI takes into account the number of days apartments were vacant, the percentage of occupancy, the number of competing renters for each apartment, lease renewals, and the percentage of new apartment completions.