The US cities with the most affordable rent in 2026

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Aerial View of Bismark, North Dakota during Summer

While some markets are seeing cooling prices, rent in some areas continues to rise.
WalletHub ranked 182 cities across the US by how affordable rents are relative to median income.
Bismarck, North Dakota, ranked first, with 15% of the median income going toward rent.

Not every city is built the same, and that's also true of rental markets.

While some cities are seeing cooling rents and more affordable housing efforts, rent prices in others continue to rise.

A recent WalletHub study ranked 182 US cities, including the 150 most populous cities in the country and at least two of the most populous in each state, by how much renters spend on rent, on average.

To calculate the share of income spent on rent, WalletHub used US Census Bureau data on median annual gross rent and median household income for each surveyed city.

"A general rule of thumb is that rent should not exceed 30% of the median income," Maggie Rong Hu, an assistant professor of real estate at Baruch College in New York, said in the study. "This ensures that renters can comfortably afford their housing without sacrificing other essential living expenses."

On average, people living in the 31 cities listed below spend about 18.5% of their income on rent, lower than the 23.46% across all measured cities.

In the most expensive cities in the study, including Miami, Detroit, and Newark, renters can spend up to 33.8% of their income on rent.

See the most affordable cities for renters across the US in 2026.