The average fair market rent (FMR) for a one-bedroom residential unit in the 50 largest U.S. metros has risen more than 40% in the past five years.
For a two-bedroom unit, average FMR climbed more than 37% over that time period, reflecting “how quickly and drastically the rental market has shifted,” according to a new LendingTree study.
Every year the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates the cost to rent a modest, nonluxury home in markets across the U.S., typically setting what the agency calls “fair market rent” at about the 40th percentile of rents in a given market, based primarily on U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) data.
The consistently updated statistic provides a benchmark for tracking rent trends, while also helping determine payment thresholds for HUD-issued housing voucher programs.
Amid a shortfall of affordable homes measured in the millions of units, rising rental demand during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has helped push rents higher. This has simultaneously made it more difficult for renters who aspire to purchase a home to save money for a downpayment on steadily more expensive homes.
First-time homebuyers in 2025 used a downpayment that averaged 10% of the purchase price, the highest share since 1987, according to the National Association of Realtors.
On average, FMRs for one-bedroom units have grown by $457 and two-bedroom units by $505 over the past five years. The largest increases for one-bedroom units by dollar volume were observed in New York, San Diego and Miami, which rose $854, $817 and $764, respectively.
By percent change, FMRs for one-bedroom units rose the most in Tampa, Fla., Indianapolis and Miami, which observed 63.1%, 62.2% and 62.1% increases.
San Francisco had the smallest rise in FMR from October 2020 to October 2025, the period of LendingTree’s analysis, rising $54 — just 1.8% — to $2,977 for one-bedroom units and gaining $51 to $3,604 for two-bedroom units.
The next smallest five-year increases in FMRs among the 50 largest U.S. metros was 16.6% in San Jose, Calif., 26% in Portland, Ore., and 28.7% in Boston.
“If your income is rising at the same time your rent is, maybe that extra expense is no big deal,” said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, in the report. “However, so many Americans’ financial wiggle room is tiny, even in the best of times, so having to carve out hundreds of extra dollars to pay rent each month can be a big deal.”
LendingTree cities data from the U.S. Department of Treasury showing that more than 90% of U.S. residents live in counties where median house prices and rents rose faster than median incomes between 2000 and 2020.
As a result, shelter costs — monthly rent or mortgage payments — have consumed an ever-larger portion of household budgets over the past two decades, leaving fewer funds for other household expenses and making saving for a downpayment even more challenging.
Despite the hefty increases, though, rent growth across the U.S. has softened in 2025.
According to figures published recently by listings platform Realtor.com, the national median asking rent for zero- to two-bedroom properties among the 50 largest U.S. metros was $1,696 in October.
That figure reflects a $29 decline from a year ago and a $9 decline from September. Still, the cumulative impact of past rent hikes continues to exert pressure on household budgets.
“While the October median rent was $63 (-3.6%) below the August 2022 peak,” the Realtor.com report read, “it remains $245 (16.9%) higher than in 2019.”
