Downtown Austin has the highest rents in Texas

As Austin swings into fall (at least according to the calendar, if not the weather)—traditionally the season when rental homes in the city are in the highest demand—a new report finds that one local ZIP code has the highest rents in the state. That would be 78701, of course, which is more or less synonymous with Downtown Austin.

The report, recently released by listings and research site RentCafe, ranks the most expensive ZIP codes for renters, looking at more than 130 major U.S. markets. For the area in the 78701 ZIP code—which has essentially the same boundaries as downtown and where most rentals are apartments—average residential rent in the area is $2,885 per month, up 8.7 percent compared to last year.

That tops the list for Texas. Dallas’s 75205 ranks second in the state, with average rents of $2,791, up 6.4 percent from the same time last year. Austin ZIP codes also place third and ninth on the list, with Tarrytown (78703) and East Austin (78702), respectively.

Dallas ZIP codes 75225 and 75201 claim the fourth and fifth positions on the Texas list, while Houston ZIP codes rank sixth through eighth. Flower Mound, located about 40 miles northwest of Dallas, rounds out the state’s top 10, with an average rent of $1,831, a 4 percent increase over one year.

It should be noted that no Texas ZIP code ranks in even remotely close to the top of the list. The top 50 priciest areas are in major coastal cities, with 28 in New York City, 18 in California, and four in Boston, Massachusetts.

RentCafe’s data comes from California-based analysts Yardi Matrix. The study we ranked ZIP Codes with the most expensive rents in more than 130 major U.S. markets using Yardi Matrix data. Its site details the study’s methodology as follows.

This study uses the actual rent charged in apartment buildings with 50 or more rental units, located in over 130 U.S. markets, totaling approximately 15 million apartment units.

ZIP Codes with less than 200 rental units and less than 3 rental properties were not included in the study.

The average rent prices are as of July 2019.

Rent data was provided by our sister company Yardi Matrix, a business development and asset management tool for brokers, sponsors, banks and equity sources underwriting investments in the multifamily, office, industrial and self-storage sectors.