Median rent by state, 2015 to 2023

Arizona's median rent rose from $933 a month in 2015 to $1,608 in 2023, a 72 percent climb and the fastest in the country. Utah (+68 percent), Nevada (+66), Florida (+64), Idaho (+63), and Washington (+60) fill out the leaders, all of them in the Sun Belt, the Mountain West, or the Pacific Northwest. The median state rose 37 percent; at the other end, Alaska and North Dakota rose 18 percent.

How it is measured

The figures are median gross rent from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey one-year estimates: the rent paid plus the estimated monthly cost of utilities, for renter-occupied units, with half of a state's renters paying more and half less. One value per state per year. The ACS did not publish one-year estimates for 2020, so that year is an honest gap in every series. Medians describe the middle of each state's rental market, not asking rents on new listings, which run higher and move earlier.

What the arrows show

Every state's rent rose from 2015 to 2023; the arrows differ only in length. The chart shows the 15 states with the highest 2023 rent; the download carries all 51 series. The long arrows cluster where people moved: Arizona, Nevada, and Utah each rose more than 65 percent and climbed into the top 15 from the middle of the 2015 pack. The slowest risers sit outside the window, in the upper Midwest and the energy states, with North Dakota and Alaska at 18 percent over eight years. California remains the level leader at $1,992 a month, the highest median rent of any state in 2023.