May 2018 Bowie Rent Report
Welcome to the May 2018 Bowie Rent Report. Bowie rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Bowie rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
Bowie rents increase sharply over the past month
Bowie rents have increased 0.8% over the past month, but have decreased sharply by 4.9% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Bowie stand at $2,040 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,360 for a two-bedroom. This is the second straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in February. Bowie's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 0.7%, as well as the national average of 1.5%.
Rents rising across the DC Metro
While rent prices have decreased in Bowie over the past year, the rest of the metro is seeing the opposite trend. Rents have risen in 6 of the largest 10 cities in the DC metro for which we have data. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
- Frederick has the least expensive rents in the DC metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,520; the city has also experienced the fastest rent growth in the metro, with a year-over-year increase of 4.7%.
- Over the past year, Centreville has seen the biggest rent drop in the metro, with a decline of 1.9%. Median two-bedrooms there cost $1,860, while one-bedrooms go for $1,610.
- Bethesda has the most expensive rents of the largest cities in the DC metro, with a two-bedroom median of $2,410; rents grew 0.8% over the past month but decreased 0.5% over the past year.
Many large cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to Bowie
As rents have fallen sharply in Bowie, many large cities nationwide have seen prices increase, in some cases substantially. Compared to most large cities across the country, Bowie is less affordable for renters.
- While Maryland as a whole logged rent growth of 0.7% over the past year, other cities across the state have seen rents decline moderately. For example, rents have grown by 1.1% in Baltimore.
- Bowie's median two-bedroom rent of $2,360 is above the national average of $1,170. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.5% over the past year compared to the 4.9% decline in Bowie.
- While rents in Bowie fell sharply over the past year, many cities nationwide saw increases, including Los Angeles (+2.1%), Atlanta (+1.9%), and San Francisco (+1.3%).
- Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Bowie than most large cities. For example, Philadelphia has a median 2BR rent of $1,160, where Bowie is more than twice that price.
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.
| City |
Median 1BR price |
Median 2BR price |
M/M price change |
Y/Y price change |
| Washington, DC |
$1,320 |
$1,520 |
0.1% |
-0.2% |
| Arlington |
$1,750 |
$2,020 |
1.2% |
0.1% |
| Alexandria |
$1,560 |
$1,800 |
0.7% |
-0.0% |
| Germantown |
$1,650 |
$1,900 |
0.5% |
0.8% |
| Silver Spring |
$1,520 |
$1,750 |
0.1% |
1.9% |
| Centreville |
$1,610 |
$1,860 |
-0.1% |
-1.9% |
| Waldorf |
$1,710 |
$1,970 |
0.1% |
3.9% |
| Frederick |
$1,320 |
$1,520 |
0.9% |
4.7% |
| Rockville |
$1,710 |
$1,970 |
0.6% |
0.7% |
| Bethesda |
$2,080 |
$2,410 |
0.8% |
-0.5% |
| Gaithersburg |
$1,500 |
$1,730 |
1.0% |
-0.2% |
| Reston |
$1,640 |
$1,890 |
0.6% |
-0.3% |
| Bowie |
$2,040 |
$2,360 |
0.8% |
-4.9% |
| Ashburn |
$1,920 |
$2,210 |
2.1% |
5.0% |
| Leesburg |
$1,670 |
$1,930 |
-0.4% |
2.1% |
| Manassas |
$1,480 |
$1,710 |
0.3% |
4.4% |
| Oakton |
$1,920 |
$2,220 |
0.8% |
7.4% |
| Montgomery Village |
$1,570 |
$1,820 |
0.7% |
-0.5% |
| College Park |
$1,530 |
$1,760 |
0.1% |
-2.2% |
| Suitland |
$1,310 |
$1,510 |
0.7% |
3.2% |
| Laurel |
$1,320 |
$1,570 |
0.9% |
-1.2% |
| Fredericksburg |
$1,410 |
$1,630 |
0.3% |
0.9% |
| Herndon |
$1,880 |
$2,170 |
-0.9% |
-0.5% |
| Greenbelt |
$1,380 |
$1,590 |
0.3% |
-0.6% |
| Fairfax |
$1,830 |
$2,110 |
1.2% |
2.9% |
| Hyattsville |
$1,280 |
$1,480 |
1.0% |
2.2% |
| Falls Church |
$1,430 |
$1,650 |
-0.3% |
-1.1% |
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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.
