These states are where rent has spiked the most

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed rental prices up across the country, and in two states, renters are paying more than $2,000 a month.Hawaii and California topped the list of the states with the most expensive median rents, at $2,132 and $2,101, respectively, according to a new report from Rentec Direct, a property management software company.Washington is the third-priciest state, at $1,785 a month, followed by New Jersey ($1,758) and Florida ($1,752).Rentec analyzed rent data over the past five years and found that rents increased an average of 31% from 2019 to 2024.New Mexico, Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland all saw rent increases of between 61% and 67% during that time, but Arizona topped the list as the state with the largest rent jump.Prices there increased by an astronomical 84%.

That resulted in a median increase of $532 per year, to $1,641.Other states that saw the highest-dollar rent increases included Delaware ($447), Washington ($436), New Jersey ($422), and Maryland ($383), all of which have seen population growth.“Arizona, New Mexico, and Tennessee have all seen population spikes driven by factors like retirement migration, strong job markets, low taxes, and a lower cost of living,” Kaycee Miller, real estate investor, landlord, and co-owner of Rentec Direct, tells Realtor.com.“This influx is putting pressure on already strained housing supply, intensifying competition and pushing up rental prices.”Arizona’s population grew by around 270,000 people from 2019 to 2024, and Tennessee’s population grew by around 300,000 in the same period.While other states like South Carolina, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming might not have high median rents—Wyoming’s monthly median rent, for instance, is $1,102—they did see some of the most significant percentage increases across the board, of between 53% and 56%.Miller says it’s because landlords in these states are able to price purely on demand.

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