Renting Just Got a Little Easier: 74% of Listings Are Now Affordable
If you've been on the hunt for a rental and feeling cautiously optimistic lately, the data is on your side. According to Zillow's May 2026 Rent Report, 74% of rental listings on Zillow were affordable to a median-income household in May — the highest share ever recorded for this time of year in Zillow's data, which dates back to 2021. For millions of Americans who have spent the better part of four years watching rents spiral out of reach, this is genuinely encouraging news.
So what's behind this shift, and which cities are leading the charge toward affordability? Let's break it down.
What "Affordable" Actually Means in This Context
Before diving into the numbers, it's worth clarifying what "affordable" means in Zillow's analysis. A rental is considered affordable when a median-income household would spend no more than 30% of their gross monthly income on rent — the widely accepted standard used by housing economists and policymakers alike. Using that benchmark, nearly three out of every four listings on Zillow in May met the affordability threshold for a typical American household.
That's a significant milestone. At the height of the pandemic-era rent surge, the inverse was nearly true in many cities, with well over half of available listings pushing or exceeding that 30% threshold. The fact that the pendulum has swung this far back reflects a genuine structural shift in the rental market, not just seasonal fluctuation.
The Apartment Construction Boom Is the Real Story
To understand why rental affordability has improved so dramatically, you have to look at supply. During the pandemic, housing demand exploded as remote work freed millions of people to relocate, household formation accelerated, and historically low interest rates made borrowing cheap. Developers responded by breaking ground on multifamily housing projects at a pace not seen in half a century — apartment construction reached a 50-year high in 2024.
That wave of new inventory is now washing through the market in a big way. More apartments mean more competition among landlords, more options for renters, and ultimately less upward pressure on prices. It's basic supply and demand, but the scale at which it's playing out is remarkable. The typical rent nationwide is up just 2% from a year ago, or roughly $39 per month, according to Zillow's report. Compare that to the double-digit annual rent growth seen in 2021 and 2022, and the difference is stark.
Incomes, meanwhile, have had time to catch up. Wage growth over the past few years has outpaced rent growth in many markets, which is exactly the combination needed to meaningfully improve affordability ratios. It isn't that rents have crashed — it's that the relationship between incomes and rent has rebalanced in renters' favor.
Sub-$1,000 Rentals Are Making a Comeback
One of the more striking data points in the May report is the share of listings priced below $1,000 per month. That figure has risen to 8.8% — the highest for any May since 2022. While sub-$1,000 apartments remain rare in major coastal metros, their growing availability nationwide reflects how much the affordability picture has changed at the lower end of the market.
For renters with tighter budgets, this is particularly meaningful. Sub-$1,000 units tend to be the fastest to lease and historically the most competitive. Seeing that share tick upward suggests the construction boom is having a real effect even at more modest price points, not just at the luxury tier where most new development tends to cluster.
The Cities Leading on Affordability
While the national trend is encouraging, some cities are dramatically outperforming the average. According to Zillow's May analysis, nine out of ten rental listings are affordable to a median-income household in each of the following markets:
- Raleigh, NC — A tech-friendly metro that has seen significant multifamily development in recent years, helping keep pace with robust population growth.
- Austin, TX — Perhaps the most dramatic turnaround story of the current cycle. After leading the nation in rent growth during the pandemic boom, Austin has added apartments at an extraordinary clip and is now one of the most affordable large metros in the country for renters.
- Louisville, KY — A perennially underrated rental market where strong wages relative to rent prices have long kept affordability healthy.
- Salt Lake City, UT — Like Austin, Salt Lake City experienced a pandemic-era surge, but new construction has helped restore balance more quickly than many expected.
These cities share a common thread: pro-development policies, available land, and a willingness to build at the scale demand requires. They offer a useful blueprint for other metros still grappling with affordability challenges.
What This Means If You're Looking to Rent Right Now
The current environment is meaningfully more favorable for renters than it was two or three years ago. Landlords in many markets are offering concessions — free months of rent, waived application fees, or reduced security deposits — that were essentially unheard of during the frenzy of 2021 and 2022. If you're approaching a lease renewal or planning a move, you may have more negotiating leverage than you realize.
That said, affordability is not evenly distributed. Coastal cities like New York, San Francisco, and Miami remain expensive relative to local incomes, and the construction boom has been slower to reach those markets due to zoning constraints and higher development costs. Renters in those cities are likely still feeling squeezed even as national headlines turn more optimistic.
Looking Ahead: Will Affordability Keep Improving?
The near-term outlook is cautiously positive. The pipeline of apartments under construction remains historically large, meaning new supply should continue entering the market through 2026 and into 2027. As long as rent growth stays modest and wages continue rising, the affordability picture should hold — or even improve further.
The wild card is interest rates. If borrowing costs remain elevated for an extended period, developers may pull back on new projects, which could eventually tighten supply again. Housing economists will be watching construction starts closely in the months ahead as a leading indicator of where rents are headed.
For now, though, May 2026 marks a genuine turning point — a moment where the data confirms what many renters are beginning to feel firsthand: the market is moving in their direction. With nearly three in four listings now affordable to the typical American household, the conversation around renting is shifting from crisis management to cautious optimism. And that's a change worth noting.