US apartment vacancy rate rises, with widening urban-suburban gap

The gap between rental vacancies in cities and their suburbs is widening.

The vacancy rate for urban rental units came in at 7.6 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to 6.9 percent in the suburbs, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Those fourth-quarter rates, for both city and suburban rental units in metropolitan statistical areas — most of which are likely apartments — were higher than they were in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, the rate for city units rose at a greater clip (by 40 basis points) compared to suburban units (by 20 basis points), indicating that there could be an increasing demand for rentals outside of urban cores. Or, as has been the case in many Sun Belt cities in particular of late, cities are continuing to wrangle with an oversupply of apartments.

The Census Bureau releases homeownership and rental data every quarter, but last quarter’s data contained an asterisk: because of lapses in federal funding last fall, the fourth-quarter release only covers data collected during November and December.

Overall, the vacancy rate for rental units was 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter, up 30 basis points year over year. The South had the highest fourth-quarter vacancy rate, of 9.1 percent, and the Northeast had the lowest, of 5.2 percent.

The national vacancy rate has been at or above 7 percent throughout 2025, a level unseen since early 2019.

Meanwhile, the homeowner vacancy rate in the fourth quarter was 1.2 percent, essentially flat year over year, as the rate in the fourth quarter of 2024 was 1.1 percent.

The South had the highest homeowner vacancy rate, of 1.5 percent, followed by the West, where the rate was 1.2 percent. Meanwhile, only the Midwest, which has also seen a burst of development amid increased job opportunities and better living costs, recorded a drop in its homeowner vacancy rate, which fell to 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter from 0.9 percent the year before.