Somewhere right now, someone is staring at a rental renewal notice. It most likely showed up during the week they had the least time to deal with it. They open a few tabs, come away with a gut feeling instead of an actual answer, and let it go. They sign. Not because they're confident it's fair, but because they ran out of road.
That gut feeling is the problem our new free tool solves. Rate My Rent grades your current rent to assess if you are paying a fair price. It answers one question: is your rent a good deal right now? It takes about a minute, it is free, and it tells you something about your rent you probably did not know before.
Renters are not passive about this and they do not lack motivation. They lack information. The rental market shifts by neighborhood, by season, by unit configuration. Even a renter who wants to do the research does not have a simple way to do it.
So people make the only decision available to them, which is usually the path of least resistance. They stay because nothing is really pushing them to move. Or they go because a rent increase feels wrong, even if the market would have told them it was fine. Either way, they are deciding without the one thing that would actually help: a clear, honest benchmark.
That's what Rate My Rent is for.
Rate My Rent answers one simple question: is your rent a good deal right now?
To get your grade, you give us:
For a more accurate picture, you can also add your square footage and the amenities your rental offers, like a gym, a pool, or parking. We compare your unit against active listings in your market, adjust for seasonality and current rental layout, and hand you a letter grade.
A strong grade is just as useful as a weak one. Here is what your grade tells you:
Rents are still 20% higher than they were at the start of 2021. In many parts of the country, that is a real gap between what someone currently pays and what the market would offer them now. The grade shows you which side of it you are on. It matters because renting has gotten harder to afford: nearly half of renter households now spend more than 30% of their income on housing, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. A few hundred dollars in either direction is rarely small.
A lot of tools can tell you the average rent in a city. That's not the same as telling you what your specific rent is worth.
Rate My Rent pulls from Apartment List's live inventory, not static data or national averages. When you use it today, your unit is compared against what is actually available today, in your neighborhood, at your configuration, with your square footage and amenities. The result is an assessment personalized to you instead of generic guidance.
Our State of Renting research shows how much affordability varies from one market to the next, which is exactly why a national average cannot tell you whether your rent is fair.
I believe the information renters need to make this call has always existed. It just has been incredibly difficult and time consuming for renters to access. We built Rate My Rent to change that.
If your grade comes back strong, that clarity is worth something. You can exhale a little, knowing you are in good shape. If it comes back low, you have something real to work with. You can see what else is out there, or at least walk into your next decision understanding the market. The grade is a starting point. What you do with it is yours to decide, and we are here for whatever comes next.
Apartment List helps renters find a home they love at the value they deserve. That starts before the search even begins, by giving renters the information they need to decide whether it is time to look for a new home.
Try Rate My Rent. It is free, it takes about a minute, and you will know something about your rent you probably did not know before.
In unit laundry, Hardwood floors, Dishwasher, 24hr maintenance, Stainless steel, Walk in closets + more
In unit laundry, Patio / balcony, Pet friendly, Stainless steel, Walk in closets, Gym + more