206 Studio Apartments for rent in Washington, DC
August 2019 Washington, DC Rent Report
Welcome to the August 2019 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.
August 2019 Washington, DC Rent Report
Welcome to the August 2019 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 have increased slightly by 1.7% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in DC stand at $1,366 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,578 for a two-bedroom. This is the fifth straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in February. DC's year-over-year rent growth exceeds the national average of 1.6%.
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, all of them have seen prices rise. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
- Rockville has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro, with a year-over-year increase of 4.6%. The median two-bedroom there costs $2,086, while one-bedrooms go for $1,806.
- Over the past month, Centreville has seen the biggest rent drop in the metro, with a decline of 0.7%. Median two-bedrooms there cost $1,938, while one-bedrooms go for $1,678.
- DC proper has the least expensive rents in the DC metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,578; rents increased 0.3% over the past month and 1.7% over the past year.
- Bethesda has the most expensive rents of the largest cities in the DC metro, with a two-bedroom median of $2,493; rents were up 0.3% over the past month and 1.2% over the past year.
Similar cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to DC
As rents have increased slightly in DC, a few similar cities nationwide have also seen rents grow modestly. Compared to most other large cities across the country, DC is less affordable for renters.
- DC's median two-bedroom rent of $1,578 is above the national average of $1,191. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.6% over the past year compared to the 1.7% increase in DC.
- While DC's rents rose slightly over the past year, many cities nationwide also saw increases, including Austin (+3.3%), Boston (+2.4%), and New York (+1.8%).
- Renters will generally find more expensive prices in DC than most similar cities. For example, Philadelphia has a median 2BR rent of $1,183.
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.