Updated November 2026. Rent figures reflect October 2026 estimates from Apartment List's November report.
Apartment List's November 2026 Rent Index estimates Charlotte's median monthly rent at $1,379, 1.7% lower than a year earlier, with one-bedrooms at $1,254 and two-bedrooms at $1,367. If you're searching for a one-bedroom, use the one-bedroom median rather than the median for all apartment sizes. These bedroom-specific medians give you a starting point for comparing apartments in the neighborhoods you're considering.
Charlotte rents have been below their year-earlier level for 41 consecutive months, according to Apartment List's estimates, and the October 2026 median was 10.6% below the city's August 2022 peak and 15.2% above its July 2019 pre-pandemic high. Below, see which way prices are moving, how availability has changed, whether the time of year matters, and where rent runs lower nearby.
Median Monthly Rent, Charlotte and U.S., October 2026
| Apartment size | Charlotte | U.S. | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All sizes | $1,379 | $1,384 | Charlotte $5 lower |
| One-bedroom | $1,254 | $1,215 | Charlotte $39 higher |
| Two-bedroom | $1,367 | $1,369 | Charlotte $2 lower |
Source: Apartment List's November 2026 release; October 2026 rent estimates.
Charlotte ranked 56th among the 100 largest U.S. cities for overall median rent in October 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, at 0.4% below the national median and between St. Paul, Minnesota ($1,384) and Raleigh ($1,370). It tied for 45th with Newark, New Jersey, for one-bedroom median rent and ranked 59th for two-bedroom median rent.
A median calculated from apartments advertised on one listing site describes that site's available inventory, which can differ from Apartment List's estimate for new leases across the whole city. Compare the listings you're considering with the median for your bedroom count rather than expecting them to match it.
Down from a year ago, up since January. Charlotte's overall median rent was 1.7% lower in October 2026 than in October 2025 but 1.0% higher than in January 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, and it rose 0.1% in October. For scale, Apartment List's national median fell 0.3% in October and was 0.1% higher than a year earlier, while North Carolina's median was 0.7% lower than a year earlier.
Each comparison ends in October 2026. January's median was lower and the previous October's was higher, which is how Charlotte rents can rise during the year while staying below their year-earlier level. Apartment List's estimates show a similar pattern in 2025: rents rose 1.3% from January to May, held there through July, then fell in each month from August through December, leaving October essentially unchanged from January.
Yes, and it has been for 41 months running. October 2026 was the 41st consecutive month in which Charlotte's overall median rent came in below the same month a year earlier, in Apartment List's estimates; the run began in June 2023. It was also the fourth October in a row to come in below the one before.
The 2026 months show a flat market. According to Apartment List's estimates, Charlotte's overall median fell to $1,365 in January 2026, its lowest point since the August 2022 peak, then moved within a $15 range, reaching $1,380 in August before slipping to $1,378 in September and edging up to $1,379 in October. The year-over-year decline stayed between 2.6% and 3.2% in every month through September, then narrowed to 1.7% in October, the smallest since October 2025.
Charlotte Median Monthly Rent and Year-over-Year Change, January to October 2026
| Month | Charlotte median | Charlotte year over year | U.S. year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | $1,379 | -1.7% | +0.1% |
| September 2026 | $1,378 | -2.6% | -0.4% |
| August 2026 | $1,380 | -2.7% | -0.8% |
| July 2026 | $1,377 | -3.1% | -1.0% |
| June 2026 | $1,376 | -3.2% | -1.2% |
| May 2026 | $1,376 | -3.2% | -1.4% |
| April 2026 | $1,374 | -2.9% | -1.6% |
| March 2026 | $1,372 | -2.8% | -1.5% |
| February 2026 | $1,366 | -2.8% | -1.4% |
| January 2026 | $1,365 | -2.7% | -1.3% |
Source: Apartment List rent estimates, overall median; November 2026 release, data through October 2026.
The two months before that were the end of the fall decline. Charlotte's overall median fell from $1,385 in November to $1,370 in December 2025, according to Apartment List's estimates, and ran 2.0% to 2.4% below year-earlier levels.
Charlotte Median Monthly Rent and Year-over-Year Change, November and December 2025
| Month | Charlotte median | Charlotte year over year | U.S. year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | $1,370 | -2.4% | -1.2% |
| November 2025 | $1,385 | -2.0% | -1.1% |
Source: Apartment List rent estimates, overall median; November 2026 release, data through October 2026.
About $164 a month, or 10.6%. Charlotte's overall median rent peaked at $1,543 in August 2022 and stood at $1,379 in October 2026, according to Apartment List's monthly rent estimates. That is 15.2% above the pre-pandemic high of $1,197 in July 2019. The median fell 2.7% between February and June 2020, passed its 2019 high again in March 2021, rose 19.3% during 2021 alone, reached the 2022 peak, and has stayed below it since.
Apartment List's national research counts Charlotte among the markets at the center of the recent apartment construction boom, where rent declines have been among the nation's largest. The rent, vacancy, and listing-time figures on this page describe Charlotte's market; they do not measure construction.
The available share is just below its August high, the highest since the index began in 2017, and apartments that lease are taking longer than at any point since tracking began. In October 2026, 9.32% of units in the Charlotte apartment buildings covered by Apartment List's Vacancy Index were listed as available, up from 9.09% a year earlier and above the national 6.96%. Apartments that leased in October 2026 had been listed for a median of 41.3 days, according to Apartment List's time-on-market data, up from 37.0 days in October 2025 and the longest reading in that series, which began in 2019.
Listing Time and Available Share, Charlotte and U.S., October 2025 and October 2026
| Measure | Charlotte, October 2025 | Charlotte, October 2026 | U.S., October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median days listed before leasing | 37.0 days | 41.3 days | 35.7 days |
| Share of apartments listed as available | 9.09% | 9.32% | 6.96% |
Source: Apartment List's November 2026 release; Vacancy Index and time-on-market data through October 2026.
The available share rose in every month from January, when it stood at 9.04%, through August, then eased to 9.39% in September and 9.32% in October. Listing times have run above their 2019 to 2025 averages in every month of 2026, and October's 41.3 days was the longest in the series. Ask about availability, current concessions, and the application timeline when you arrange a tour.
Fall and winter, if price matters most. Charlotte's overall median rent ended January below the previous September in seven of the nine fall-to-winter periods from 2017-18 through 2025-26, according to Apartment List's analysis of its monthly estimates. The seven declines ranged from 0.7% to 3.7%, and the last four periods all fell; the exceptions were 2020-21 and 2021-22, when the median rose between September and January. The most recent decline was 3.5%, or about $50, from September 2025 to January 2026.
Summer, on average. Apartment List's time-on-market data, averaged over 2019 to 2025, puts the median listing time for Charlotte apartments that leased in July at 25.1 days, against 31.9 days for apartments that leased in January. The gap did not hold in 2022 and 2023, when January's median was below July's.
Charlotte Seasonal Listing Times, 2019 to 2025
| Apartments leased in | Average monthly median listing time |
|---|---|
| January | 31.9 days |
| July | 25.1 days |
Source: Apartment List analysis of its time-on-market data, Charlotte city, 2019 to 2025.
Those figures describe apartments that already leased, not how long a listing you are looking at will stay open.
Gastonia, for a one-bedroom. It had the lowest one-bedroom median of the eight Charlotte metro area cities with published estimates in Apartment List's November 2026 release, $995; Kannapolis had the lowest overall median, $1,227, and the lowest two-bedroom median, $1,173. Five cities had lower one-bedroom medians than Charlotte's $1,254, and three of those, Gastonia, Kannapolis, and Rock Hill, also had lower overall medians.
Median Monthly Rent in Eight Charlotte Metro Area Cities, October 2026
| City | All sizes | One-bedroom | Two-bedroom | Change in overall median from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gastonia, NC | $1,238 | $995 | $1,231 | +0.6% |
| Kannapolis, NC | $1,227 | $1,005 | $1,173 | +3.0% |
| Rock Hill, SC | $1,258 | $1,182 | $1,241 | -0.5% |
| Cornelius, NC | $1,435 | $1,193 | $1,428 | -1.8% |
| Mooresville, NC | $1,434 | $1,239 | $1,379 | -4.2% |
| Charlotte, NC | $1,379 | $1,254 | $1,367 | -1.7% |
| Huntersville, NC | $1,621 | $1,338 | $1,558 | -5.1% |
| Matthews, NC | $1,543 | $1,419 | $1,598 | -1.7% |
Source: Apartment List's November 2026 release; October 2026 rent estimates. Cities sorted by one-bedroom median; each row covers that city's own boundaries.
A higher citywide median doesn't necessarily mean a proportionally higher rent for the apartment size you need, because the overall median pools all apartment sizes while the bedroom medians describe separate groups. Mooresville shows the difference: its overall median of $1,434 was $55 above Charlotte's $1,379, but its one-bedroom median of $1,239 was $15 below.
Gastonia is west of Charlotte, and Rock Hill is south across the South Carolina line; Huntersville, Cornelius, and Mooresville are north along Lake Norman, Kannapolis is northeast, and Matthews is southeast. Rents fell over the year in six of the eight cities and rose in two. For the newest monthly figures, see Apartment List's Charlotte rent report, which updates each month. Whether a lower rent works for you also depends on where you need to go regularly.
Use the $1,254 one-bedroom and $1,367 two-bedroom medians for Charlotte from Apartment List's November 2026 report to set a price reference, then compare what apartments in that range actually offer.
For example, a Charlotte one-bedroom listed at $1,400 would be $146 above the $1,254 one-bedroom median. Its condition, location, lease terms, required monthly charges, and included utilities can help you judge whether that difference is worthwhile.
If your moving date is flexible, include fall and winter listings in your search; if it is fixed, compare the apartments available when you need to move.
Build a shortlist of places that meet your needs and compare their total monthly costs side by side. That gives you a practical next step: deciding which apartments deserve a tour and what to ask before applying.
Explore apartments in Charlotte
For help fitting rent into your broader budget, see our Charlotte cost of living guide.
Rent, vacancy, and listing-time figures on this page come from Apartment List's November 2026 release, with data as of October 2026. Earlier months are shown as revised in that release.
Data Sources and Calculation Methods Behind This Page
| Source or method | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Rent estimates | Median rent on new leases signed in the month. Percentage changes are Apartment List's published figures, calculated before medians are rounded to whole dollars, so they can differ slightly from a change worked out from two rounded medians. |
| Vacancy Index | Share of units listed as available in buildings of 10 or more units that list on Apartment List. |
| Listing time | Median days from first listing to lease, for apartments leased in the month. |
| Historical rent figures | Monthly medians are Apartment List's published rent estimates for each month, as revised in the November 2026 release. The series begins in 2017, and August 2022 is its highest month. |
| Seasonal comparisons | September-to-January changes in that series, nine periods from 2017-18 through 2025-26. |
| Geographic scope | City figures cover Charlotte only. Metro figures cover Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, which spans North and South Carolina and includes the city. |
| Rankings | The 100 largest U.S. cities by population. |
| National Rent Report | Nationwide rent figures and the construction-boom context; November 2026 report, October 2026 data. |
All three data series are published on Apartment List's data and rent estimates page.
Apartment List's November 2026 Rent Index puts Charlotte's median rent at $1,379 across all apartment sizes, and $1,254 for a one-bedroom. Apartment List reports the median, the midpoint of new-lease rents signed in the month, so a figure another source labels an average rent is not directly comparable.
Using 30% of gross household income as a starting point for rent alone, the $1,379 Charlotte median rent from Apartment List's November 2026 report works out to an income of about $55,200 a year. The $1,254 one-bedroom median works out to about $50,200 and the $1,367 two-bedroom median to about $54,700. Utilities and other housing costs need additional room in that budget. For the broader budget, see our Charlotte cost of living guide.
About $25 a month. Apartment List's estimates put Charlotte's overall median rent at $1,404 in October 2025 and $1,379 in October 2026, a decrease of 1.7%.
Compared with March 2020, Charlotte's median rent was 15.3% higher in October 2026, while the national median was 19.2% higher, according to Apartment List, in dollar terms without adjusting for inflation. Charlotte's net change includes a 19.3% rise during 2021, the climb to its August 2022 peak of $1,543, and the 10.6% decline since.
The city figure covers the City of Charlotte; the metro figure covers the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area, which spans North and South Carolina and includes the city. In October 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, Charlotte's overall median of $1,379 was 5.2% above the metro's $1,311, its one-bedroom median 2.6% above the metro's $1,222, and its two-bedroom median 9.5% above the metro's $1,248. Because the metro figure includes the city, it says nothing on its own about what any one surrounding city costs.
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