Austin Is the Nation's Best City for Renters in 2026

Falling rents and a strong job market make Austin the country's top city for renters, even as owners wait for demand to catch up to supply.

October 19, 2026

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Austin Is the Nation’s Best City for Renters in 2026

Good morning. Austin just took the national crown for renters in 2026. Falling rents, high vacancy and a roaring job market hand tenants the leverage, at least until supply tightens.

🎙️ This Week on No Cap: Two multifamily operators on turnover costs, affordability, and whether this is a bubble.

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Market Snapshot

Top Market

By Transaction Volume

Aransas Pass — $80.8M

Properties Sold

All Asset Types

Transaction Volume

Sales Activity

$173.5M

Top Office Submarket

Avg Starting Rent

Uptown Turtle Creek (DFW)

$111.74 / SF

Texas Office Rent

Avg Effective

$40.53 / SF

Office Rent Growth

YoY Change

-14.5%

*Office metrics courtesy of CompStak; data from 4/1/26 – 6/30/26. Sales metrics courtesy of Actovia; Texas properties reported sold during the week of 9/19/26 – 9/25/26.

Supply Glut

Falling Rents Hand Austin the Renter Crown

Austin ranks as the best US city for renters in 2026, built on soft rents and a deep job market, per Apartment List.

By the numbers: Apartment List scored 71 cities on 16 measures and put Austin first. Vacancy sits at 9.0% against 6.8% nationally, and rents have slipped 2.3% over the past year to more than 20% below their 2022 peak.

Tenants hold the cards: Supply handed renters the leverage. More than half of Austin apartments now dangle at least a free month, a concession rate that ranks among the most generous in the country as owners compete for signatures.

The job engine: Demand has a floor. Austin ranks first for economic opportunity, with 3.3% unemployment, 7% job growth over three years and $70,155 in median renter household income, the kind of base that usually absorbs a glut in time.

Texas company: Austin is not alone on the list. Arlington cracks the top five on income rather than price, pairing a $107,656 median renter household income with a 49.7% urgency rate, the highest among the leaders and a sign its leasing market runs hot.

➥ THE TAKEAWAY

Why it matters: For Austin owners, the ranking is a double-edged flag. Renters still hold the leverage while concessions run deep, but a 3.3% jobless rate and a thinning construction pipeline point to a tighter market once the 2022 supply wave finishes clearing.

Around Texas

➥ Austin’s marquee projects keep advancing, led by a $7.1B light rail line of nearly 10 miles and 15 stations, with construction due in 2027 and service by 2033.

➥ Work on AT&T’s $1B-plus Plano headquarters begins Dec. 1, state filings show, with 11 buildings and garages adding up to roughly 2.2M SF of office by 2029.

➥ An 1,800-home Anna community broke ground north of Dallas, as builders chase one of DFW’s fastest-growing exurbs.

➥ The Knox, an Auberge Resorts Collection luxury hotel, opened on Dallas’s Knox Street, anchoring a 1M SF mixed-use district along the Katy Trail.

➥ A five-story 152,894 SF office project is underway in Mansfield’s Innovation District, as Admiral Legacy and Foundry Commercial bet on Fort Worth’s southern suburbs.

➥ Teeple Partners broke ground on the 312-unit Oaks Reserve in Bryan, the second of three phases in a 1,000-plus-unit development anchoring Central Texas growth.

➥ High Street Residential is razing three vacant office buildings at 5550 LBJ Freeway for 435 mixed-income apartments, turning dead Dallas office into housing by 2028.

Follow the Money

MULTIFAMILYDALLAS Dallas-based S2 Capital modified $1.2B of debt across 26 apartment communities, a dozen in foreclosure, pushing a 531-unit north Dallas asset to a 2031 maturity.

RETAILROUND ROCK Mark IV Capital broke ground on a 41,521 SF restaurant plaza at The District, the $1B project facing Dell’s headquarters, with completion due in 2028.

OFFICEUPTOWN DALLAS Uptown property values topped $10B, edging past downtown as the Y’all Street finance boom drew Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and the Texas Stock Exchange.

MULTIFAMILYHOUSTON Lenders accuse Nord Group of pocketing rents and faking insurance as its Texas portfolio unravels, after Freddie Mac foreclosed on a 228-unit Lake Jackson complex.

MULTIFAMILYTEXAS Bridge Investment took back the 248-unit Wythe in Irving and 376-unit Archer in San Antonio through foreclosure, as 2021-era value-add bets sour.

RESIDENTIALTEXAS Home flipping is climbing across Texas even as it falls nationally, with Austin leading at 6% of sales, up 28.5% YoY, per Attom data.

RETAILMERCEDES Marcus & Millichap arranged $23.4M to finance a South Texas travel center, a 10-year loan at 6.75% and 70% LTV through a national credit union.

📈 CHART OF THE WEEK

Frost Bank leads Texas commercial mortgage lending across Dallas–Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin, but accounts for just 1 in 36 loans, highlighting a highly fragmented market with 2,597 lenders.