Updated October 2026. Rent figures reflect September 2026 estimates from Apartment List's October report.
Apartment List's October 2026 Rent Index estimates New York City's median monthly rent at $2,598, 3.8% higher than a year earlier, with one-bedrooms at $2,480 and two-bedrooms at $2,615. 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.
New York City rents have been above their year-earlier level for 63 consecutive months, according to Apartment List's estimates, and the September 2026 median was $1 below the August 2026 high, the highest reading in Apartment List's series for the city, which begins in 2017, and 25.9% above the September 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, New York City and U.S., September 2026
| Apartment size | New York City | U.S. | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All sizes | $2,598 | $1,388 | New York City $1,210 higher |
| One-bedroom | $2,480 | $1,220 | New York City $1,260 higher |
| Two-bedroom | $2,615 | $1,374 | New York City $1,241 higher |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; September 2026 rent estimates.
New York City ranked 6th among the 100 largest U.S. cities for overall median rent in September 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, at 87.2% above the national median and between Arlington, Virginia ($2,610) and Jersey City ($2,532). It ranked 6th for two-bedroom median rent and tied with Fremont, California, for 4th among one-bedroom medians. The citywide figure pools all five boroughs; Apartment List publishes county-level estimates for two of them, Manhattan (New York County) at an overall median of $3,300 in September 2026 and Brooklyn (Kings County) at $2,541.
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 $1 from last month, up from January and a year earlier. New York City's overall median rent slipped 0.1% in September 2026, to $2,598 from $2,599, but was 8.3% higher than in January 2026 and 3.8% higher than in September 2025, according to Apartment List's estimates, and the one-year increase was the 14th-highest among the 100 largest U.S. cities. For scale, Apartment List's national median fell 0.1% in September and was 0.4% lower than a year earlier, while New York State's median was 3.4% higher than a year earlier.
Most of the year's gain came in the spring and summer. According to Apartment List's estimates, the median fell in each month from September through December 2025, reached $2,398 in January 2026, then rose for seven consecutive months to $2,599 in August before slipping in September. The shape matches 2025, when the median rose 7.9% from January to August and then fell in each month from September through December.
Yes, and it has been for 63 months running. September 2026 was the 63rd consecutive month in which New York City's overall median rent came in above the same month a year earlier, in Apartment List's estimates; the run began in July 2021. August 2026 was also the fifth August in a row to set a new high in the series, and September came in $1 below it.
The 2026 months show the climb, then a $1 dip in September. According to Apartment List's estimates, New York City's overall median rose from $2,398 in January 2026 to $2,599 in August, with monthly increases of 1.4% to 1.6% from March through June, then eased to $2,598 in September. The year-over-year increase ranged from 2.6% in March to 3.8% in September.
New York City Median Monthly Rent and Year-over-Year Change, January to September 2026
| Month | New York City median | New York City year over year | U.S. year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | $2,598 | +3.8% | -0.4% |
| August 2026 | $2,599 | +3.6% | -0.8% |
| July 2026 | $2,587 | +3.4% | -1.0% |
| June 2026 | $2,563 | +3.0% | -1.2% |
| May 2026 | $2,527 | +2.8% | -1.4% |
| April 2026 | $2,491 | +2.7% | -1.6% |
| March 2026 | $2,453 | +2.6% | -1.6% |
| February 2026 | $2,416 | +2.8% | -1.4% |
| January 2026 | $2,398 | +3.1% | -1.3% |
Source: Apartment List rent estimates, overall median; October 2026 release, data through September 2026.
The three months before that were the end of the fall decline. New York City's overall median fell from $2,486 in October to $2,406 in December 2025, according to Apartment List's estimates, while staying 3.8% to 4.2% above year-earlier levels.
New York City Median Monthly Rent and Year-over-Year Change, October to December 2025
| Month | New York City median | New York City year over year | U.S. year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | $2,406 | +3.8% | -1.2% |
| November 2025 | $2,446 | +4.2% | -1.1% |
| October 2025 | $2,486 | +4.2% | -0.9% |
Source: Apartment List rent estimates, overall median; October 2026 release, data through September 2026.
Yes, in September 2021, and it has stayed above it since. According to Apartment List's monthly rent estimates, New York City's overall median rent reached $2,064 in September 2019, its pre-pandemic high, and fell to $1,596 by December 2020. It passed the 2019 high in September 2021 after rising 32.8% during 2021. September 2026's $2,598 is $534, or 25.9%, above the 2019 high and $1 below the August 2026 series high.
The available share is less than half the national figure, and apartments that lease are moving faster than a year ago. In September 2026, 3.21% of units in the New York City apartment buildings covered by Apartment List's Vacancy Index were listed as available, down from 3.53% a year earlier and against 7.01% nationally. Apartments that leased in September 2026 had been listed for a median of 29.3 days, according to Apartment List's time-on-market data, down from 32.3 days in September 2025 and 4.4 days under the national 33.7.
Listing Time and Available Share, New York City and U.S., September 2025 and September 2026
| Measure | New York City, September 2025 | New York City, September 2026 | U.S., September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median days listed before leasing | 32.3 days | 29.3 days | 33.7 days |
| Share of apartments listed as available | 3.53% | 3.21% | 7.01% |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; Vacancy Index and time-on-market data through September 2026.
The available share held between 3.32% and 3.42% from January through August, then fell to 3.21% in September, the lowest September reading since 2022. Listing times have run below their 2019 to 2025 averages in every month since March; January's 45.8 days was the second-longest reading in the series, behind January 2021. Ask about availability and the application timeline when you arrange a tour.
Fall and winter, if price matters most. New York City's overall median rent ended January below the previous September in eight of the nine fall-to-winter periods from 2017-18 through 2025-26, according to Apartment List's analysis of its monthly estimates. The declines ranged from 2.6% to 8.0%, and the last four periods all fell; the exception was September 2021 to January 2022, when the median rose 1.5%. The most recent decline was 4.2%, or about $106, from September 2025 to January 2026.
Summer, by about two and a half weeks. Apartment List's time-on-market data, averaged over 2019 to 2025, puts the median listing time for New York City apartments that leased in July at 23.5 days, against 40.2 days for apartments that leased in January. January's median exceeded July's in each of those seven years. Every month from March through September 2026 came in below its 2019 to 2025 average.
New York City Seasonal Listing Times, 2019 to 2025
| Apartments leased in | Average monthly median listing time |
|---|---|
| January | 40.2 days |
| July | 23.5 days |
Source: Apartment List analysis of its time-on-market data, New York City, 2019 to 2025.
Those figures describe apartments that already leased, not how long a listing you are looking at will stay open.
Newark. It had the lowest overall, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom medians of the 11 New York metro area cities with published estimates in Apartment List's October 2026 release, at $1,666, $1,249, and $1,718. Eight cities had a lower one-bedroom median than New York City's $2,480, and all eight also had lower overall medians. Five cities had a one-bedroom median under $2,000, three in New Jersey and two in New York.
Metro Area Cities With a One-Bedroom Median Under $2,000, September 2026
| City | All sizes | One-bedroom | Two-bedroom | Change in overall median from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newark, NJ | $1,666 | $1,249 | $1,718 | -2.6% |
| Bayonne, NJ | $1,952 | $1,629 | $1,966 | +3.0% |
| West New York, NJ | $1,998 | $1,803 | $2,036 | +1.9% |
| Yonkers, NY | $2,075 | $1,839 | $2,231 | +4.0% |
| New Rochelle, NY | $2,147 | $1,935 | $2,386 | +1.8% |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; September 2026 rent estimates. Cities sorted by one-bedroom median; each row covers that city's own boundaries.
New York City and five other cities had one-bedroom medians of $2,000 or more, according to Apartment List's October 2026 release. Two had higher one-bedroom medians than New York City: Harrison ($2,747) and Hoboken ($3,191).
New York City and Metro Area Cities With a One-Bedroom Median of $2,000 or More, September 2026
| City | All sizes | One-bedroom | Two-bedroom | Change in overall median from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hackensack, NJ | $2,167 | $2,100 | $2,329 | +2.5% |
| White Plains, NY | $2,410 | $2,225 | $2,631 | +4.5% |
| Jersey City, NJ | $2,532 | $2,477 | $2,519 | +2.7% |
| New York City, NY | $2,598 | $2,480 | $2,615 | +3.8% |
| Harrison, NJ | $2,553 | $2,747 | $2,200 | +0.7% |
| Hoboken, NJ | $3,757 | $3,191 | $4,391 | +5.0% |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; September 2026 rent estimates. Cities sorted by one-bedroom median; each row covers that city's own boundaries.
Rents rose over the year in 10 of the 11 cities; Newark was the exception. For the newest monthly figures, see Apartment List's New York City rent report, which updates each month.
A higher citywide median doesn't necessarily mean higher rent for the apartment size you need, because the overall median pools all apartment sizes while the bedroom medians describe separate groups. Harrison shows the difference in reverse: its overall median of $2,553 was $45 below New York City's $2,598, but its one-bedroom median of $2,747 was $267 higher.
Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, Bayonne, Hoboken, and West New York are across the Hudson River in New Jersey's Hudson and Essex counties, and Hackensack is in Bergen County to the northwest. Yonkers, New Rochelle, and White Plains are north of the city in Westchester County, New York. Whether a lower rent works for you also depends on where you need to go regularly.
Use the $2,480 one-bedroom and $2,615 two-bedroom medians for New York City from Apartment List's October 2026 report to set a price reference, then compare what apartments in that range actually offer.
For example, a New York City one-bedroom listed at $2,800 would be $320 above the $2,480 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 New York City
For help fitting rent into your broader budget, see our New York City cost of living guide.
Rent, vacancy, and listing-time figures on this page come from Apartment List's October 2026 release, with data as of September 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 October 2026 release. The series begins in 2017, and August 2026 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 the five boroughs of New York City. Borough figures are Apartment List's county-level estimates for New York County and Kings County. Metro figures cover New York-Newark-Jersey City, which spans New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and includes the city. |
| Rankings | The 100 largest U.S. cities by population. |
| National Rent Report | Nationwide rent figures; October 2026 report, September 2026 data. |
All three data series are published on Apartment List's data and rent estimates page.
Apartment List's October 2026 Rent Index puts New York City's median rent at $2,598 across all apartment sizes, and $2,480 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 $2,598 New York City median rent from Apartment List's October 2026 report works out to an income of about $103,900 a year. The $2,480 one-bedroom median works out to about $99,200 and the $2,615 two-bedroom median to about $104,600. Utilities and other housing costs need additional room in that budget. For the broader budget, see our New York City cost of living guide.
About $94 a month, or 3.8%. Apartment List's estimates put New York City's overall median rent at $2,504 in September 2025 and $2,598 in September 2026.
About 31%. Compared with March 2020, New York City's median rent was 30.6% higher in September 2026, while the national median was 19.6% higher, according to Apartment List, in dollar terms without adjusting for inflation. New York City's net change includes a 19.1% decline between February and December 2020, a 32.8% rise during 2021, and increases of 3.1% to 4.1% in each full year since.
The city figure covers the five boroughs of New York City; the metro figure covers the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, which spans New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and includes the city. In September 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, New York City's overall median of $2,598 was 10.8% above the metro's $2,344, its one-bedroom median 15.6% above the metro's $2,145, and its two-bedroom median 8.9% above the metro's $2,401. Because the metro figure includes the city, it says nothing on its own about what any one surrounding city costs.
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