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The U.S. city with the highest asking rent is not the Big Apple or Silicon Valley — it’s Miami.
The Magic City logged an average asking rent of $59.66 per square foot, besting New York’s $50.56 per square foot, according to an analysis by commercial listings platform LoopNet, which looked at 5,000 office listings across 50 markets as of March 2026. The report is new for the firm.
New York’s figure encompasses the entire city, not just Manhattan, whose office leasing market has been on a hot streak so far this year. Data from commercial real estate research firm Yardi Matrix shows the asking price for Manhattan alone coming in at $69.29 in May, the highest in the country. Miami’s was third, at $58.41.
Still, Miami has seen companies clamoring for high-quality space, said Declan Hood, a senior analyst covering the Florida market for Avison Young. While law firms and financial companies have been mainstay tenants in the market, Miami also is seeing tech companies snap up leases.
“The demand’s there, which would lead landlords to hike that asking rate overall,” he said.
Miami also has long been attracting high-net-worth individuals to the area, and they are bringing their companies along with them. Hedge fund Citadel, led by Ken Griffin, plans to construct a supertall office tower in the city’s Brickell neighborhood, which commands the city’s top office rents.
“You’re seeing that type of wealth migrate into Miami,” said Shipley Hall, executive managing director of Newmark who is based in Miami. “They want comparable office space to where they’re used to living.”
Meanwhile, New York, in particular Manhattan, has seen a resurgence of demand for office space, having regained momentum following the pandemic and some landlords’ decisions to convert empty offices into residential properties.
“We’re seeing a broader base of demand where it’s concentrated in the mid-size tenant market, as well as some of the smaller tenants that are coming to the market,” said Vikrant Ghate, a manager of market intelligence for Avison Young, based in New York. “These companies are still focused on efficiency.”
In Manhattan, the market is getting tighter for trophy properties, which has led to landlords pulling back on concessions, Ghate said.
Three other coastal markets topped LoopNet’s list as well: Washington, D.C. ($47.95 per square foot); San Francisco ($42.66 per square foot); and San Jose ($39.63).