Here’s how many renters compete for 1 NYC apartment — but it’s worse elsewhere in the nation

Surprise, surprise: Manhattan currently ranks among the top five most competitive rental markets in the country. 

The Big Apple rose the ranks of RentCafe’s most recent report on rental competitiveness nationwide. Manhattan is currently the fifth most competitive rental market in the country, according to the data. Demand is high, turnover is low and vacancies are brief. 

It’s the rental market that never sleeps. 

Manhattan’s median rent reached another record high in June, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman, marking the fourth broken record in five months.

Not only was the median rent on a new Manhattan lease a whopping $4,625 last month, but the competition for these units is fiercer than ever. 

In Manhattan, 25% of rentals incurred bidding wars in June — a fraught process typically reserved for homeowners.

More than half of Manhattan renters understandably chose to stay put in the first quarter of 2025, according to RentCafe’s analysis of Yardi data. Lease renewals reached 70% in that period. Fewer vacant apartments meant crowded open houses — 11 renters were competing for each open apartment, the report found. That’s an increase from just seven renters pet unit during the same period last year.

The high-pressure environment is resulting in vacant apartments leaving the market five days faster than the same period last year, resulting in the typical rental unit spending an average of 45 days for rent.

Manhattan certainly isn’t the only city where renters are feeling the heat. Miami renters are facing far greater competition for housing, according to RentCafe. The Sunshine State’s largest city boasts an occupancy rate of 96.6% in the first quarter of 2025, with 21 prospective renters per unit and average vacancies of just over a month.

Suburban Chicago and Broward County, Florida took second and third places, followed by Eastern Los Angeles and suburban Philadelphia. 

Fierce competition for rentals in Florida locales like Miami and Broward County contrast sharply with reports of stalling home sales across the state. Broward County saw an 18% year-over-year decline in home sales and a 24% drop in condo closings in May, according to recent data from the Miami Association of Realtors.

Homebuyer hesitancy extends from the Floridian coast to the Big Apple.

“With high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty, renting is looking more attractive than buying for many people right now,” said Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix, which provides data to RentCafe.