RENT'S DUE

Rent in this Dallas-Fort Worth city increased nearly 15 percent from 2022

Zumper ranked Irving the No. 34 most expensive rental market in the United States.

Photo courtesy of Simpson Property Group

Apartment rent keeps going up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and none more so than in Irving, where renters pay nearly 15 percent more than they did last year, making it increasingly difficult to afford living in the city. That’s according to a new national rent report from online rental marketplace Zumper.

Irving topped the list of rent increases among DFW cities.

Despite rent increases showing a small slowdown month-over-month, overall prices are still on the high side from the previous year. For example, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Irving is $1,930 now, in March of 2023, which is a half percent increase from the previous month, but a staggering 14.9 percent increase from 2022. The average rent for a one-bedroom is $1,520, which is a mere 2 percent increase month-over-month, but also a whopping 14.3 percent increase from last year.

The report looked at rental data from more than 1 million active listings in the top 100 cities in the United States to determine the rankings. Zumper ranked Irving the No. 34 most expensive rental market across the nation in February of 2023, up two places from the last report.

The report attributes these recent rental increase trends to the nation's rising inflation rate and unpredictable economy. Though unemployment is low (less than 3.4 percent), potential homebuyers are being sidelined with increasing interest rates. This is causing more competition among renters all over the country.

“Many markets continue to either normalize or correct following the steep increases in rent seen in 2021 [and 2022] in the zero interest rate [and] QE environment we went through,” said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades in the report. “With interest rates expected to rise further in 2023, we anticipate continued deceleration in rent rises as new household formation freezes or is at least postponed.”

Just two places down the list from Irving is Dallas, coming in as the No. 36 most expensive rental market, which is a three-place increase from a previous report. Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment stayed relatively flat over the last month, at $1,500, yet is still 4.2 percent higher than it was last year. Two-bedroom apartments saw a smaller year-over-year increase at 4.6 percent, with the average rent price at $2,030.

Plano comes in at No. 40, Fort Worth at No. 55, and Arlington at No. 67.

Several cities in the DFW metro area also made the list, as well as Austin (No. 25), San Antonio (No. 66) and El Paso (No. 95). Most notably, Houston (No. 51) is experiencing a nearly 11 percent year-over-year rent increase for both one- and two-bedroom apartments.

The nine total Texas cities that made the list include:

No. 25 – Austin
No. 34 – Irving
No. 36 – Dallas
No. 40 – Plano
No. 51 – Houston
No. 55 – Fort Worth
No. 66 – San Antonio
No. 67 – Arlington
No. 95 – El Paso

The full data from Zumper’s National Rent Report can be found at zumper.com.

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rent report

Here's how much rent prices have dropped in Dallas-Fort Worth since 2025

Photo by TOM on Unsplash

Rent prices are on the decline in most DFW cities.

Rent prices are falling statewide, and prices in certain Dallas-Fort Worth cities have declined by nearly 8 percent since last year, according to a new national rent report from Zumper.

The Zumper National Rent Report tracked year-over-year and month-over-month rent price changes in 100 U.S. cities for both one- and two-bedroom units using the most recent data available from May 2026.

Plano had the fourth-steepest rent decrease in Texas, with prices for one-bedroom units dipping 7.5 percent year-over-year to $1,360. Two-bedroom rent has dropped 5.5. percent from last year to $1,900.

In Dallas, one-bedroom rent prices fell 5.6 percent to $1,350, and two-bedroom rent is down 6.4 percent since last year to $1,900.

Arlington was the only major Texas city where rent prices increased from May 2025 to May 2026. One-bedroom rent increased nearly 3 percent to $1,090, and two-bedroom rent increased 2.1 percent to $1,480.

The cost for a single-bedroom apartment in Irving is $1,280, or the same price as it was a year ago, the report found. Two-bedroom units are 3 percent cheaper than they were last year, at $1,610.

In Fort Worth, respective rent costs for one- and two-bedroom units come out to $1,240 and $1,560.

Rent prices elsewhere in Texas
San Antonio saw the steepest drop in rent prices statewide, with one-bedroom rents falling by 10.4 percent to $950. Two-bedroom units have declined 6 percent year-over-year to $1,250.

These are the rent prices for other Texas cities in May 2026:

Austin: $1,420 for one-bedroom units; $1,860 for two-bedroom units
El Paso: $810 for one bedroom; $1,130 for two bedrooms
Houston: $1,130 for one bedroom; $1,430 for two bedroom

The report also revealed that four of the 10 U.S. metros offering the most concessions are located in Texas. Austin leads nationally with more than a third of rental units "dangling incentives to fill space," followed by San Antonio, Houston, then Dallas. A separate rent report from real estate data firm CoStar found Dallas-Fort Worth had the fifth highest apartment vacancy rate in the U.S. in March, meaning residents may be able to save on their rent depending on the financial incentives offered by landlords.

Additionally, these same markets offering generous rent concessions are also among the 10 U.S. metros with the largest population growth, which Zumper says signals ongoing tension between tenants and their landlords regarding prices.

"So while Texas absorbed a significant share of the 2023-2025 supply wave, inventory still has to lease up before landlords regain pricing power, and the steady inflow of new residents says the demand is there," the report said. "It’s just a question of when supply stops outrunning it."

From 2023 to 2024, Texas gained nearly 73,000 net new renters, making it the No. 1 magnet for renters nationwide.

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