Rent collection
11 Rental Housing Statistics for US Landlords in 2026
By Best Landlord Software · Published · Updated
- US vacancy
- 7.1%
- 2025 · 6.8% in 2024 (+0.3 points)
- Lowest state
- 2.2%
- Maine · 2025
- Highest state
- 11.1%
- Louisiana · 2025
The US rate peaked at 10.6% in 2009 and reached 7.1% in 2025. These are annual estimates, not a prediction for a property.
Key takeaways
- The annual US rental vacancy rate was 7.1% in 2025, compared with 6.8% in 2024. (Census Bureau, March 2026)
- US consumers reported about $65 million in rental-scam losses from January 2020 through June 2025. (FTC, December 2025)
- Among US renters, 23% reported falling behind on rent at some point in 2025. (Federal Reserve, May 2026)
- In 2023, 8.46 million very-low-income US renter households without housing assistance had worst case housing needs. (HUD, November 2025)
- In NAA’s 2025 same-property apartment sample, 89 cents of each rent dollar covered financing, operating costs, taxes, payroll and capital reserves. (National Apartment Association, October 2026)
- In 2023, 4.2% of US households had no bank or credit-union account. (FDIC, November 2024)
Rental vacancy rates by state
Point estimates are not precise rankings; sampling uncertainty limits comparisons between places.
2025 annual estimates use 11 months because October data were not collected. The prior year is shown for comparison. Margin of error is ± percentage points at 90% confidence; overlapping intervals do not establish a difference.
All 50 states, DC and the US are shown.
| Location | 2024 | 2025 | Change points | Margin ± points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 6.8 | 7.1 | 0.3 | — |
| Alabama | 10.1 | 9.5 | -0.6 | 1.5 |
| Alaska | 4.9 | 5.3 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Arizona | 8.8 | 8.4 | -0.4 | 1.6 |
| Arkansas | 9.8 | 10.1 | 0.3 | 1.6 |
| California | 4.8 | 4.8 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Colorado | 4.5 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| Connecticut | 2.9 | 4.7 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| Delaware | 3.8 | 5.6 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
| District of Columbia | 6.8 | 7.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 |
| Florida | 10.0 | 10.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
| Georgia | 8.3 | 6.6 | -1.7 | 1.1 |
| Hawaii | 7.4 | 8.7 | 1.3 | 1.6 |
| Idaho | 5.1 | 6.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Illinois | 6.5 | 5.7 | -0.8 | 0.9 |
| Indiana | 9.9 | 8.9 | -1.0 | 1.6 |
| Iowa | 8.0 | 7.9 | -0.1 | 1.9 |
| Kansas | 5.4 | 6.4 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Kentucky | 6.9 | 6.6 | -0.3 | 1.7 |
| Louisiana | 9.4 | 11.1 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Maine | 2.9 | 2.2 | -0.7 | 1.3 |
| Maryland | 5.7 | 5.7 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| Massachusetts | 3.2 | 3.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Michigan | 6.8 | 8.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| Minnesota | 5.4 | 5.1 | -0.3 | 1.5 |
| Mississippi | 7.6 | 7.6 | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Missouri | 8.7 | 9.4 | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Montana | 4.2 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Nebraska | 5.4 | 5.9 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Nevada | 8.1 | 6.5 | -1.6 | 1.3 |
| New Hampshire | 4.0 | 3.9 | -0.1 | 1.3 |
| New Jersey | 3.6 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| New Mexico | 6.6 | 6.6 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| New York | 5.5 | 5.3 | -0.2 | 0.6 |
| North Carolina | 6.4 | 6.4 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| North Dakota | 7.8 | 7.3 | -0.5 | 1.4 |
| Ohio | 5.8 | 5.9 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| Oklahoma | 7.9 | 7.7 | -0.2 | 1.4 |
| Oregon | 6.7 | 7.6 | 0.9 | 1.4 |
| Pennsylvania | 6.9 | 6.6 | -0.3 | 1.1 |
| Rhode Island | 2.6 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| South Carolina | 10.6 | 9.8 | -0.8 | 1.8 |
| South Dakota | 7.6 | 6.7 | -0.9 | 1.6 |
| Tennessee | 8.2 | 8.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 |
| Texas | 9.2 | 11.0 | 1.8 | 0.8 |
| Utah | 4.8 | 7.6 | 2.8 | 1.5 |
| Vermont | 3.7 | 3.0 | -0.7 | 1.2 |
| Virginia | 5.6 | 6.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| Washington | 6.0 | 6.6 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| West Virginia | 9.8 | 8.9 | -0.9 | 1.8 |
| Wisconsin | 4.1 | 7.1 | 3.0 | 1.7 |
| Wyoming | 5.5 | 7.1 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
No state matches. Try a state name or reset the table.
Source: Census Bureau CPS/HVS annual tables. Table 3 supplies rates; Table B-3 supplies 2025 state margins. The US figure is the Census estimate.
Best Landlord Software. 11 Rental Housing Statistics for US Landlords in 2026. Published October 28, 2026. https://bestlandlordsoftware.com/rent-collection/rental-housing-statistics/
How vacant is US rental housing?
Annual figures provide a full-year benchmark; quarterly estimates describe a different period.
| Period | US rental vacancy |
|---|---|
| 2024 annual | 6.8% |
| 2025 annual | 7.1% |
| Q3 2026 | 7.6% |
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- The annual US rental vacancy rate was 7.1% in 2025, compared with 6.8% in 2024. (Census Bureau, March 2026)
- The US rental vacancy rate was 7.6% in the third quarter of 2026, higher than the same quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. (Census Bureau, October 2026)
How much rent do US renters pay, and how often do payments fall behind?
The Federal Reserve surveyed adults in October 2025; its rent figures are reported payments, not asking rents or gross rent including utilities.
| Measure | 2025 finding |
|---|---|
| Median positive monthly rent payment | $1,200 |
| Behind on rent during the past year | 23% of renters |
| Rent payments reported to a credit bureau | 8% of renters |
| Moved due to eviction or its threat in the past year | 2% of renters |
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- Among US renters, 23% reported falling behind on rent at some point in 2025. (Federal Reserve, May 2026)
How many renter households face severe affordability problems?
Worst case housing needs means very-low-income renters without housing assistance who pay over half their income for rent, live in severely inadequate housing, or both.
| 2023 population | Affordable and available units per 100 households |
|---|---|
| Very-low-income renter households | 59 |
| Extremely-low-income renter households | 38 |
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- In 2023, 8.46 million very-low-income US renter households without housing assistance had worst case housing needs. (HUD, November 2025)
Where does a rent dollar go?
NAA’s same-property study covers 13,471 apartment communities with roughly 1.7 million units; these figures are not an estimate of every small landlord’s profit.
| Measure | 2025 same-property sample |
|---|---|
| Rent covering financing, costs, taxes, payroll and capital reserves | 89 cents per dollar |
| Revenue growth from 2024 | 2.7% |
| Operating-expense growth from 2024 | 4.6% |
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- In NAA’s 2025 same-property apartment sample, 89 cents of each rent dollar covered financing, operating costs, taxes, payroll and capital reserves. (National Apartment Association, October 2026)
Can every household use a bank-based rent-payment service?
FDIC figures cover all US households, rather than renters alone; they help explain why a digital payment option is not universal access.
| 2023 household measure | Share |
|---|---|
| No bank or credit-union account | 4.2% |
| Underbanked | 14.2% |
| Mobile banking was primary account-access method, among banked households | 48.3% |
| No mainstream credit access | 15.7% |
| Relied entirely on cash, among unbanked households | 66.2% |
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- In 2023, 4.2% of US households had no bank or credit-union account. (FDIC, November 2024)
How widely is ACH used?
These totals cover the entire ACH Network, not rent payments; they do not measure landlord adoption or promise any provider’s settlement time.
| 2025 payment network | Annual payments |
|---|---|
| All ACH Network payments | 35.2 billion |
| Same Day ACH payments | 1.4 billion |
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- The US ACH Network processed 35.2 billion payments in 2025, including 1.4 billion Same Day ACH payments. (Nacha, January 2026)
What do tenant-screening complaints reveal?
CFPB complaint totals describe reported problems, not the error rate across all screening reports.
| January 2019–September 2022 complaint category | Approximate complaints |
|---|---|
| All tenant-screening complaints | 26,700 |
| Incorrect information | More than 17,200 |
| Problems with the company’s investigation | 5,000 |
| Improper report use | More than 3,200 |
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- The CFPB received approximately 26,700 tenant-screening complaints from January 2019 through September 2022. (CFPB, November 2022)
How costly are fake rental listings?
FTC figures describe reported rental scams; unreported losses are outside these totals.
| Reported rental-scam measure | Finding |
|---|---|
| Losses, January 2020–June 2025 | About $65 million |
| Median reported loss, January 2020–June 2025 | $1,000 |
| Reporting a monetary loss, ages 18–29 versus other adults, July 2024–June 2025 | Three times as likely |
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- US consumers reported about $65 million in rental-scam losses from January 2020 through June 2025. (FTC, December 2025)
How important is internet access at move-in?
NMHC’s 2024 survey covered more than 172,000 renters in 4,220 communities; the result describes respondents to that survey.
| 2024 NMHC/Grace Hill survey item | Respondents |
|---|---|
| Internet ready immediately at move-in was very important or absolutely essential | 87% |
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- In the 2024 NMHC/Grace Hill survey, 87% of renter respondents rated internet availability immediately at move-in as very important or absolutely essential. (NMHC, April 2024)
Are utility prices rising faster than rents?
CPI compares prices over time; these are national urban consumer indexes, not local lease offers.
| CPI-U category | September 2025–September 2026 increase, not seasonally adjusted |
|---|---|
| Rent of primary residence | 2.8% |
| Water, sewer and trash collection services | 4.8% |
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- US urban water, sewer and trash-collection prices rose 4.8% over the year to September 2026, compared with a 2.8% rise in rent of primary residence. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, October 2026)
Methods
30 candidate figures checked, 11 kept as distinct findings. Supporting measurements remain in the tables; each original source page supplies one counted finding. Findings were retained when the original government agency or trade body stated the figure, period and population. Table rows and repeated takeaways are not additional findings. The vacancy table combines the Census annual state series with its 2025 state margins of error. Annual figures, quarterly figures, asking rents, reported payments and survey populations remain separate. The 2025 annual estimates use 11 months because October data were not collected during a lapse in federal funding. Historical collection and weighting changes can affect comparisons, particularly the pandemic period.
The source periods run from 1986 to 2026. Recheck after the next Census quarterly release; review the complete page by January 28, 2027. Send a correction with the figure and original publication through our contact form. The compiled CSV is available under CC BY 4.0; credit Best Landlord Software and the Census Bureau.
For a payment workflow, use our rent-collection process guide. For report handling, use the tenant-screening checklist.
Sources
- Census Bureau: Annual vacancy Table 3; current quarterly release; 2025 state margins in Table B-3. accessed October 2026.
- Federal Reserve: Economic Well-Being of US Households in 2025, Housing. May 2026.
- HUD: Worst Case Housing Needs: 2025 Report to Congress. November 2025.
- National Apartment Association: Where a Dollar of Rent Went in 2025. October 2026.
- FDIC: 2023 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households. November 2024.
- Nacha: Full-year 2025 ACH Network results. January 2026.
- CFPB: Consumer Snapshot: Tenant Background Checks, page 3. November 2022.
- FTC: Rental Scams Hit Home, data spotlight. December 2025.
- NMHC: Bulk Internet in Rental Housing, 2024 survey findings. accessed October 2026.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: September 2026 Consumer Price Index release. October 2026.