RentCafe: Rental Competitiveness Cools Slightly

(Image courtesy of Brett Sayles/pexels.com)

RentCafe, Santa Barbara, Calif., found the U.S. rental competitiveness score fell from 75.7 to 75.4 in the early part of 2026.

But, it’s a tale of two cities–or more–RentCafe described. In many markets, including Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta, the competitiveness is deepening.

RentCafe uses data from its parent company, Yardi Matrix, to determine how competitive the rental market is. Factors include how many renters compete for each available apartment, how many renters stay put, how long it took for an apartment to get filled, the share of apartments that were occupied and the share of apartments that were new.

Nationwide, the occupancy rate is at about 92.7%, and 62.8% of renters are choosing to renew their leases. And, there are fewer apartments coming on the market. Only 0.6% of apartment inventory was recently built, down from 0.75% last year.

Chicago saw the biggest jump in competitiveness among major metros in the early part of the year. Its competitiveness score jumped 9.5 points, from 79.3 to 88.8 in early 2026. San Francisco (up 6.1 points from 70.9 to 77) and Atlanta (up 6 points from 69.9 to 75.9) also saw tightening competition.

Despite Chicago’s growing score, it’s still No. 2 on the list of the most competitive rental markets. No.1 is Miami, with a score of 90.5. Rounding out the top five are suburban Chicago, at 86.7, Suburban Twin Cities, Minn.-Wis., at 86.3 and Silicon Valley, Calif., at 85.4.

Looking at small markets, Wichita, Kan., has seen the largest increase in its score, up 14.6 points from 76.4 to 91. Next is Amarillo, Texas, up 10.6 points from 79.1 to 89.7, and El Paso, Texas, up 10.5 points from 75.1 to 85.6.

Overall, Wichita, Kan., is the tightest market, followed by Amarillo. Rounding out the top five are Lafayette Ind., (88.8), Harrisburg, Pa., (88.4) and Lehigh Valley, Pa. (88.3).