We’ve previously taken a look at the Cheapest States and Most Expensive States, and to no one’s surprise, California was the most expensive.
But that analysis was done based on the total cost of living for food, daycare, transportation, and, of course, housing.
So today we wanted to highlight what might the most important piece of data of all those listed above — housing — and, in particular, the states with the highest rent.
In one of the few analyzes we do that does not rely on Census data, our data for this particular excercise comes from ApartmentList which releases the most timely and accurate data available on rents across the country. We specifically looked the Rental Listings –> Overall –> State data set.
After we extracted the rental data and ranked them from highest lowest, California came in a distant second to New York.
On the map
The states with the highest and lowest rent in America, mapped
Source: HomeSnacks
The verdict
So There Are Your States With The Highest Rents In America
With the median rent in America only $1,700, you can expect to pay almost twice that in California or New York.
The states with the highest rent in the United States are Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Washington, Virginia, Connecticut, and Alaska.
The states with the lowest rent in the United States are South Dakota, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Montana, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
If you’re thinking of trying to move to somewhere cheap, then stick to the heartland where you can expect to pay closer to $1,000.
Saturday Night Science
How We Calculated The States With The Highest And Lowest Rent For April 2026
We’ve been ranking states and cities for over four years now and we always start our quests for data in the same manner — as stroll through the American Community Survey.
But, as we mentioned above, we’ve made a rate exception to that rule as there is another source we trust and that has way more timely data — ApartmentList.
- Median Rent
ApartmentList provides monthly data on rents across America by state, select counties, and select cities. The current data runs through April 2026 — there’s a bit of a lag in reporting.
That compares to the Census last release of data in December 2023 that only goes through 2022, so ApartmentList is way more up-to-date.
With all that in mind, we took the median rent for Rental Listings –> Median Rent Overall –> State from ApartmentList’s data.
We then ranked each state from the highest median rent to the lowest.
The state with the most expensive rent ended up being Hawaii.
The best deal? South Dakota and Arkansas.
Continue on for a look at the top ten or scroll to the bottom for a detailed, state-by-state table. We also broke down every state’s data into specific charts and graphs.
We updated this article for April 2026.
The full plate
All 50 states, ranked by rent
Click any column to sort. Search by state name.
| Rank | State | Median Rent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $2,333 |
| 2 | California | $2,198 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | $2,035 |
| 4 | New Jersey | $1,974 |
| 5 | New York | $1,948 |
| 6 | Maryland | $1,832 |
| 7 | Washington | $1,797 |
| 8 | Virginia | $1,781 |
| 9 | Connecticut | $1,716 |
| 10 | Alaska | $1,657 |
| 11 | Colorado | $1,602 |
| 12 | New Hampshire | $1,558 |
| 13 | Delaware | $1,525 |
| 14 | Florida | $1,522 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $1,513 |
| 16 | Illinois | $1,481 |
| 17 | Oregon | $1,476 |
| 18 | Nevada | $1,438 |
| 19 | Utah | $1,349 |
| 20 | Minnesota | $1,347 |
| 21 | Arizona | $1,319 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $1,311 |
| 23 | Georgia | $1,309 |
| 24 | South Carolina | $1,265 |
| 25 | Texas | $1,256 |
| 26 | North Carolina | $1,212 |
| 27 | Wisconsin | $1,205 |
| 28 | North Dakota | $1,196 |
| 29 | Nebraska | $1,184 |
| 30 | Michigan | $1,179 |
| 31 | Tennessee | $1,158 |
| 32 | Missouri | $1,149 |
| 33 | Vermont | $1,149 |
| 34 | Maine | $1,148 |
| 35 | Kansas | $1,133 |
| 36 | Idaho | $1,131 |
| 37 | Indiana | $1,122 |
| 38 | Ohio | $1,112 |
| 39 | New Mexico | $1,109 |
| 40 | Wyoming | $1,099 |
| 41 | Mississippi | $1,093 |
| 42 | Louisiana | $1,086 |
| 43 | Montana | $1,085 |
| 44 | Kentucky | $1,082 |
| 45 | Oklahoma | $1,016 |
| 46 | Iowa | $1,003 |
| 47 | Alabama | $990 |
| 48 | West Virginia | $982 |
| 49 | Arkansas | $938 |
| 50 | South Dakota | $888 |
Source: ApartmentList rent estimates.
Rent By State In The United States For April 2026
Rent is generally cheaper in the Midwestern states and the South compare to the coasts. More land and less demands means lower rent.
The states with the highest rent in the United States are Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Washington, Virginia, Connecticut, and Alaska.
The states with the lowest rent in the United States are South Dakota, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Montana, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Questions and answers
Rent By State FAQs
What state has the highest rent?
Hawaii has the highest rent in America for 2026, with a median rent of $2,333 a month. California and Massachusetts are next.
What states have the most expensive rent?
The states with the highest rent are Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Washington, Virginia, Connecticut, and Alaska. We ranked all 50 states by median rent.
What state has the cheapest rent?
South Dakota has the lowest rent in America, with a median of $888 a month. The full priciest-to-cheapest ordering is in the table above.
How big is the rent gap between states?
The spread runs from $2,333 a month in Hawaii down to $888 in South Dakota. Same country, very different lease terms.
Where does the rent data come from?
Median rents come from April 2026 ApartmentList data, and we rank all 50 states on that single number. No adjustments — just what renters actually pay in the middle of each market.
