Arlington Is Renters' Most Desired Place For 2nd Month In A Row

ARLINGTON, VA — For the second month in a row, Arlington was the most favored place in the nation for people who rent apartments, according to the latest report from RentCafe.

Apartment listings in Arlington for the month of August attracted a significantly higher number of engagements compared to the same time in 2022, RentCafe said in its August rental activity report.

"Specifically, traffic on Arlington listing pages more than doubled year-over-year, while renters favorited 72 percent more apartments and saved 38 percent more personalized searches," RentCafe said. "This continued (and growing) interest from apartment seekers in Arlington listings also helped the city keep its top spot for another month."

RentCafe.com, owned by Yardi, is a nationwide apartment search website and a part of Yardi. The company also publishes research, insights, and in-depth analysis on the U.S. real estate market.

In RentCafe’s August rental report, Arlington was followed in the monthly ranking by Kansas City, Missouri at No. 2. The rest of the top five were Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Denver.

The median rent currently stands at $2,166 for a 1-bedroom apartment and $2,591 for a 2-bedroom in Arlington. Across the entire apartment rental market, the median rent is $2,297, according to Apartment List.

To compile its monthly reports, RentCafe’s research team analyzes RentCafe.com’s rental listing data across the 150 largest cities by population in the contiguous U.S.

The cities were ranked based on a city-level rental activity score. Full points were awarded to the most desirable city for a particular metric, while the zero-point level was set slightly below the worst city’s value. Cities that lacked sufficient information regarding specific metrics were awarded zero points.

Beginning with the August report, the city (or county in the case of Arlington) that obtained the highest total score was awarded 100 points, and all total scores of the following cities were adjusted accordingly.

To calculate each city’s score, RentCafe ranked them according to four metrics and their averages as of the most current month in 2023 versus the same month in 2022.

The four metrics are:

• Availability Rate (Maximum score: 40 points): The availability rate score was calculated by dividing the total vacant units at the city level for the most recent month by the total units and a year-over-year comparison of the same. The lowest rate received maximum points.
• Page Views (Maximum score: 30 points): The page views score was calculated as the total number of monthly page views for the most recent month at the city level divided by the total renter population in the city and a year-over-year comparison of the same. Page views are defined as a unique user interaction on a specific page, in a 30-minute window.
• Favorites (Maximum score: 15 points): The favorites score was calculated as the total monthly rental listings added to favorites at the city level for the most current month divided by the total renter population in the city and a year-over-year comparison of the same. A favorite is defined as a rental listing saved to favorites by a website visitor.
• Saved Searches (Maximum score: 15 points): The saved searches score was calculated as the total number of monthly saved searches at the city level for the most current month divided by the total renter population in the city and a year-over-year comparison of the same. A saved search is defined as a filtered/personalized apartment search saved by a website visitor.

RELATED:

• Arlington Ranks No. 1 In Virginia For Ease In Finding New Apartment
• Arlington Ranks No. 1 In U.S. For College Graduates Starting Career