440 1 Bedroom Apartments for rent in Washington, DC
March 2020 Washington, DC Rent Report
Welcome to the March 2020 Washington, DC Rent Report. DC rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the DC rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
March 2020 Washington, DC Rent Report
Welcome to the March 2020 Washington, DC Rent Report. DC rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the DC rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
DC rents increased moderately over the past month
DC rents have increased 0.3% over the past month, and are up moderately by 2.1% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in DC stand at $1,365 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,577 for a two-bedroom. This is the third straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in November of last year. DC's year-over-year rent growth exceeds the national average of 1.7%.
Rents rising across the DC Metro
Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of DC, but across the entire metro. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in the DC metro, 6 of them have seen prices rise. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
- Bethesda has the most expensive rents in the DC metro, with a two-bedroom median of $2,409; however, the city has also seen rents fall by 0.5% over the past month, the biggest drop in the metro.
- Frederick has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro, with a year-over-year increase of 6.3%. The median two-bedroom there costs $1,627, while one-bedrooms go for $1,408.
- DC proper has the least expensive rents in the DC metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,577; rents were up 0.3% over the past month and 2.1% over the past year.
Comparable cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to DC
As rents have increased moderately in DC, a few other large cities nationwide have also seen rents grow modestly. Compared to most similar cities across the country, DC is less affordable for renters.
- DC's median two-bedroom rent of $1,577 is above the national average of $1,194. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.7% over the past year compared to the 2.1% rise in DC.
- While DC's rents rose moderately over the past year, many cities nationwide also saw increases, including Austin (+3.4%), New York (+2.2%), and Seattle (+1.8%).
- Renters will generally find more expensive prices in DC than most other large cities. For example, Philadelphia has a median 2BR rent of $1,180.
For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.
Methodology - Recent Updates:
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Methodology:
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
About Rent Reports:
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.