Housing in front of the Atlanta skyline in Atlanta, Georgia, on Nov. 13, 2022. Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ATLANTA - Zumper has released its latest metro Atlanta rental report, highlighting the most and least expensive cities for apartment rentals in the area.
According to the report, Brookhaven is the most expensive city for apartment rentals in metro Atlanta, with a one-bedroom apartment averaging $1,640 per month. The City of Atlanta follows at $1,630, and Alpharetta averages $1,610.
On the other end, Forest Park is the most affordable, with one-bedrooms priced at $980. Griffin ranks second least expensive at $990, and Rome is third at $1,100.
Fortunately, with the exceptions of Athens and Rome, rent has decreased in all metro Atlanta cities over the past year. The largest decreases were in Alpharetta (down 18.3%) and Decatur (down 18.2%). Gainesville saw a notable decrease of 10.3%, while Griffin's rent dropped by 11.6%. Brookhaven’s rents decreased by 3%, and Atlanta’s fell by 4.1%.
Zumper attributes the falling rental rates to major inventory growth. Atlanta had the 3rdlargest amount of new supply become available across the country in the last 5 years.
Nationally, Zumper’s research shows the National Rent Index decreased by 0.1% in September 2024, with expectations for further rate cuts later this year. On an annual basis, rental rates have increased 1.5% for one-bedrooms and 2.5% for two-bedrooms. However, despite the current slowdown, rents remain $300 to $400 higher than four years ago, due to significant rent spikes in recent years.
New York City remains the most expensive rental market in the nation, reaching an all-time high of $4,500 for a one-bedroom apartment in August 2024, a price unchanged in September. San Francisco saw rent increases, climbing to $3,170 in September.
The five most expensive rental markets in the U.S. are:
- New York, NY: $4,500
- Jersey City, NJ: $3,300
- San Francisco, CA: $3,170
- Miami, FL: $2,810
- Boston, MA: $2,800
Metro Atlanta ranks as the 26th most expensive market among the 100 largest U.S. cities. Click here to see the full list of cities and their rankings.
Zumper analyzes over one million active listings across the country each month for its reports. These listings are aggregated to calculate median asking rents for the top 100 most populous cities, providing a comprehensive view of the current rental market.