Top 30 most competitive rental markets in 2026

Rank Market Competitive
score 		Average vacant
days 		Occupied
apartments 		Prospective
renters 		Lease
renewal rate 		Share of
new units
1 Miami, FL 90.5 38 95.9% 13
71.4%
 1.5%
2 Chicago, IL 88.8 38 95.2% 9
61.4%
 0.1%
3 Suburban Chicago, IL 86.7 40 94.6% 9
70.4%
 0.5%
4 Suburban Twin Cities, MN-WI 86.3 39 94.5% 8
65.7%
 0.2%
5 Silicon Valley, CA 85.4 39 95.2% 9
56.0%
 0.2%
6 Suburban Philadelphia, PA 85.2 46 94.8% 8
76.4%
 0.2%
7 Broward County, FL 85.1 44 94.3% 9
68.4%
 0.1%
8 Grand Rapids, MI 85.0 41 94.5% 6
72.1%
 0.2%
9 Lansing - Ann Arbor, MI 84.0 42 94.6% 6
70.0%
 0.0%
10 Milwaukee, WI 83.8 40 94.3% 8
72.5%
 1.1%
11 North Jersey, NJ 83.1 44 94.7% 8
73.1%
 0.6%
12 Eastern Virginia, VA 82.7 43 93.8% 9
63.7%
 0.3%
13 San Diego, CA 82.4 41 94.6% 10
54.7%
 0.3%
14 Oklahoma City, OK 81.4 40 92.0% 6
63.9%
 0.4%
15 Kansas City, MO 81.2 43 92.7% 6
70.1%
 0.4%
16 Cincinnati, OH 81.2 43 93.3% 9
64.0%
 0.5%
17 Orange County, CA 81.0 45 95.3% 9
60.2%
 0.0%
18 Omaha, NE 80.9 42 94.2% 6
67.3%
 0.5%
19 Detroit, MI 80.3 46 92.9% 7
69.9%
 0.2%
20 Bridgeport - New Haven, CT 79.7 46 93.9% 8
66.6%
 0.4%
21 Orlando, FL 79.4 44 93.3% 7
66.9%
 0.9%
22 Pittsburgh, PA 78.9 45 94.0% 6
65.8%
 0.2%
23 Twin Cities, MN 78.9 45 92.9% 7
63.6%
 0.1%
24 Manhattan, NY 78.6 47 95.7% 6
67.4%
 0.1%
25 St. Louis, MO-IL 78.2 42 91.3% 5
63.2%
 0.3%
26 Jacksonville, FL 77.5 45 91.4% 6
64.1%
 0.1%
27 San Francisco Peninsula -
North Bay, CA
 77.0 43 94.2% 8
48.5%
 0.2%
28 Central Valley, CA 77.0 45 95.4% 9
50.8%
 0.2%
29 Northeast Ohio, OH 76.8 47 92.2% 5
69.8%
 0.1%
30 Greater Boston, MA 76.5 46 94.2% 7
64.4%
 0.8%
Data as of February 2026. All data is accurate as of the date of publication.
Source: RentCafe analysis of Yardi data
RentCafe