Renters, take note: While apartment rents in Dallas proper are falling, they're rising in some suburbs — especially Arlington.

A report released December 28 by Apartment List shows rents in 2020 skyrocketed 5.1 percent in Arlington, representing the biggest one-year spike in DFW. Apartment List says median rent in Arlington was $1,010 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,230 for a two-bedroom apartment.

In other words, if you want to live between all the action in Dallas and Fort Worth, keep an eye on that upward trend.

Contrast that with Richardson, which saw a year-over-year decrease in median rents (4.8 percent). That was the biggest drop among the Dallas-Fort Worth cities tracked by Apartment List. Median rents in Richardson were $1,230 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,440 for a two-bedroom apartment.

Dallas proper — where rent fell 2.6 percent last year — remains more affordable than most other large cities across the country, the report notes. Nationwide, rents have fallen by 1.5 percent over the past year. A one-bedroom apartment in Dallas runs $980, and two-bedroom, $1,170. By comparison, San Francisco has a median two-bedroom rent of $2,305, which is nearly twice the amount in Dallas.

Still, you have to look at the suburbs to get the complete picture. Rents have risen in six of the largest 10 cities the DFW area for which Apartment List had data. Plano has the most expensive rents in DFW, with a two-bedroom median of $1,528. Fort Worth has the least expensive rents in the area, with a two-bedroom median of $1,116.

In Texas overall, rent declined 2.1 percent last year. A snapshot throughout the state shows:

• Houston posted a decrease of 3.5 percent last year. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Houston stood at $900 a month; for a two-bedroom apartment, it was $1,070. However, rents have gone up in five of the 11 largest cities in the Houston metro area.
• Rents in in the popular beach destination Galveston dropped 3.5 percent over a year’s time. Median rent there is $890 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,130 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to Apartment List.
• In Austin, median rents took a year-over-year slide of 5.4 percent, accounting for the biggest fall-off among major Texas cities tracked by Apartment List. Rent was $1,090 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,440 for a two-bedroom apartment.
• In San Antonio, median rents slipped 1 percent year over year, with a one-bedroom apartment going for $893 and a two-bedroom apartment for $1,083.