Overview

In this month’s report, we explained a few key market trends:

🔑 Median rent prices are climbing with the start of spring — albeit slowly.

🔑 St. Louis has one of the fastest growing median rent prices in the nation.

🔑 At the state level, Kentucky is seeing sizable price increases.

National Trends

While rent trends differ from region to region, here’s what you need to know about rent prices on a national level:

Nationally, rent is beginning its slow spring climb.

🔑 The national median rent price ($1,495) stayed nearly flat from February to March, only climbing about 0.07%.

🔑 This is in line with trends we’ve observed over the last three years, barring any outliers. We can expect rental prices to continue to climb throughout the rest of the spring and summer as demand for rental units increases.

Regional Trends

In this month’s report, we dove deep into the following trend:

St. Louis’s rapid rent growth is rivaling coastal cities.

🔑 In March, St. Louis, MO had the No. 7 highest median rent increase for a one-bedroom apartment (+4.5 MoM, +10.6 YoY) of any rental market that we track. This put it above highly competitive coastal markets like Boston, MA (+3.6% MoM, +1.8+ YoY) and New York, NY (+2.7 MoM, +5.8% YoY).

🔑 According to our data, it now costs around $940 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment in St. Louis — nearly $100 more per month than this time last year.

🔑 This is largely due to the perceived affordability of the housing market. Buyers who are priced out of other markets are attracted to the opportunity to buy property in cities like St. Louis, where the barrier to homeownership may be lower.

🔑 Slow but steady demand in the area over time has led to more competition — both for single-family homes and rental properties. In recent years, the St. Louis market has seen record-low vacancy rates

Rent at the State Level

🔑 Kentucky is seeing big increases in its median rent price at the state level.

🔑 In March, the median rent price of a one-bedroom rental unit in Kentucky increased by 2.3% MoM and 5.9% YoY. While this growth can partially be attributed to pressure on the housing markets in Kentucky’s largest metropolitan areas (rent in Louisville, KY is up 0.6% MoM and 8.1% YoY, for example), this doesn’t tell the full story.

🔑 According to the Kentucky Housing Corporation, there was a housing shortage in every county in the state in 2024. Renters of all income levels are competing for housing even in rural areas, leading to price growth across Kentucky. In total, the state is short just over 100,000 rental units as well as 100,000 for-sale units based on demand.

🔑 Adding to the pressure is higher home prices and mortgage rates, which price out would-be first-time homebuyers and force them into the competition for rentals as well. This is happening more and more in ostensibly “affordable” real estate markets and is a trend to watch.

To learn more about rent trends in your city and to see our methodology, read our full monthly rent report here.