Apartment List Data Helps Government Provide Accurate Vouchers for Low-Income Renters

The Apartment List research team is now providing data products to assist with the federal government's calculations of the 2023 Fair Market Rents (FMRs). These critical rent measurements ensure housing policy is effective in helping low-income renters secure housing in the United States. Historically, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) calculates FMRs using Census Bureau data, but this year decided to incorporate private data sources for the first time after the usual data collection was interrupted during the pandemic.

Apartment List rent estimates are one of six private data sources HUD utilizes to ensure FMRs and housing vouchers accurately reflect the rent growth that has occurred throughout the pandemic. Under the new methodology with Apartment List data, FMRs increased by 10 percent on average, and more in markets that have seen the fastest pandemic rent growth, such as Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami.

FMRs are used in several federal programs, the most significant being Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8). The federal government issues vouchers to low-income households to find housing in the private market. Voucher holders pay their landlord the difference between market rent and the value of their voucher. The value of these vouchers is based on local FMRs, which must accurately reflect real-world price changes to provide affordability and stability to voucher holders.

Apartment List rent estimates used to determine FMRs for the federal government are available to the public and can be viewed and downloaded here, including data at the national, state, metro, county, and city levels.