REPORT: Nearly half of Austin residents rent. Here's why

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Nearly half of Austin residents rent their homes, amounting to one of the highest rentership rates nationwide, according to a new report from rent.com released last week.

The market research study found a nearly 50/50 split between renters and homeowners in the Texas capital, with just over 46% of residents classified as renters and nearly 54% designated as homeowners. Austin’s rentership rate far outpaces the national rate of 34%, per rent.com’s analysis.

One of the biggest reasons — and no surprise to Austinites — behind the high rentership levels boils down to sheer housing costs. Using June 2024 figures, Redfin found the median price of a home in Austin cost nearly $563,000; comparatively, the national median price of a home was listed at $442,000.

That isn’t to say the Austin housing market hasn’t cooled down a bit. Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Austin housing prices catapulted before ultimately reaching a peak of nearly $667,000, per rent.com’s report.

Nationally, the rentership rate rose just shy of 2% earlier this year to a year-over-year rate of 34.4%, per rent.com. While homeownership rates grew at a slower pace — a 0.6% increase in the same timespan — the vast majority of Americans are homeowners, at 65.6% of the national population.

Rentership rates tend to correlate to the expense of housing in different communities, with areas like Austin that have seen substantial cost-of-living increases also seeing higher concentrations of renters. Rent.com’s analysis also found national rental supply has done a better job at meeting demand compared to housing supply.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 metros with the highest share of renters:

1. Los Angeles, California: 53% rentership rate versus 47% homeownership rate
2. San Diego, California: 52.4% rentership rate versus 47.6% homeownership rate
3. New York, New York: 50.1% rentership rate versus 49.9% homeownership rate
4. Fresno, California: 49% rentership rate versus 51% homeownership rate
5. Austin, Texas: 46.3% rentership rate versus 53.7% homeownership rate
6. San Jose, California: 44.8% rentership rate versus 55.2% homeownership rate
7. Honolulu, Hawaii: 42.5% rentership rate versus 57.5% homeownership rate
8. San Francisco, California: 41.8% rentership rate versus 58.2% homeownership rate
9. Las Vegas, California: 41.6% rentership rate versus 58.4% homeownership rate
10. San Antonio, Texas: 40.9% rentership rate versus 59.1% homeownership rate

Comparatively, these are the top 10 metros with the lowest portion of renters:

1. Worcester, Massachusetts: 23.2% rentership rate versus 76.8% homeownership rate
2. North Port, Florida: 23.3% rentership rate versus 76.7% homeownership rate
3. Albany, New York: 25.6% rentership rate versus 74.4% homeownership rate
4. Rochester, New York: 25.7% rentership rate versus 74.3% homeownership rate
5. Syracuse, New York: 26.2% rentership rate versus 73.8% homeownership rate
6. Cape Coral, Florida: 26.3% rentership rate versus 73.7% homeownership rate
7. Cincinnati, Ohio: 26.8% rentership rate versus 73.2% homeownership rate
8. Hartford, Connecticut: 27.2% rentership rate versus 72.8% homeownership rate
9. Richmond, Virginia: 27.7% rentership rate versus 72.3% homeownership rate
10. Albuquerque, New Mexico: 27.7% rentership rate versus 72.3% homeownership rate

The complete report findings are available online.