Midwest outperforms on rents

Rents are cooling across much of the United States, but Midwest cities are still posting firmer numbers than many Sun Belt rivals. (zillow.com) Zillow said the typical U.S. rent reached $1,910 in March 2026, up 1.8% from a year earlier and 0.6% from February. Nearly 39.8% of Zillow rental listings offered a concession, a sign that landlords are still competing for tenants. (zillow.com) That national slowdown looks very different by metro. Quartz, citing Zillow’s February 2026 rental report, said Austin rents were down 2.4% from a year earlier and that more than 63% of Austin listings offered concessions, while the typical renter nationwide spent 26.3% of income on rent. (qz.com) Zillow’s January report described the same shift in broader terms: the typical asking rent was $1,895 in January, up 2% year over year, the slowest annual growth since December 2020. Zillow also said a median-income renter now spends 26.4% of income on rent, the lowest share since August 2021. (zillow.com) The main force behind softer rents is supply. Zillow said a construction boom added enough apartments to keep multifamily rent growth to 1.4% in January and forecast just 0.6% growth for multifamily rents in 2026. (zillow.com) Chicago stands out because it has not softened like Austin, Phoenix, or Tampa. Yardi Matrix said Chicago multifamily asking rents were up 3.5% in February from a year earlier, compared with national advertised rent growth of 0.1%. (yardimatrix.com) Yardi Matrix put the same pattern across the region: the Twin Cities were up 2.3% and Kansas City 2.0%, while Austin was down 5.2%, Phoenix 3.6%, and Tampa 3.2%. The firm said Midwest metros were holding steady on demand and limited new supply. (yardimatrix.com) Fortune framed that divide as an “affordability economy” on April 11, 2026, with strength shifting toward lower-cost Rust Belt markets as some Sun Belt markets absorb years of aggressive building. Fortune’s story was published one day after Quartz mapped the same split using Zillow data. (fortune.com) (qz.com) Zillow’s own methodology helps explain why these comparisons matter. Its Zillow Observed Rent Index tracks typical market rents over time across regions, weighted to reflect the rental housing stock rather than just the newest luxury listings. (zillow.com) The result for renters is a market with two speeds in April 2026: more discounts and slower growth nationally, but less relief in parts of the Midwest where new supply has been thinner and rents are still edging higher. (zillow.com) (yardimatrix.com)