Realtor.com shares, "Austin, TX, has dethroned Nashville, TN, as the most attractive rental apartment market for remote workers, after the "Music City" spent two consecutive years atop the list. Another major Texas city claimed the third spot.
Capital Economics, a London-based consulting firm, released its latest analysis on Mar. 3 looking into apartment markets based on remote workers' preference scores. The analysis examined a variety of factors, including the local job market, cost of living, desirability, and climate—revealing some major shifts in the cities' standings.
Austin grabbed the lead, followed by Nashville and San Antonio, TX, rounding out the top three. Nashville topped the list as the most desirable apartment market for remote workers in 2023 and 2024.
"Austin and San Antonio offer affordable, and falling, rent levels, as well as plenty of for-sale inventory, drawing in buyers and renters alike," says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones.
Like in years past, some of the largest U.S. metros wound up as the lowest-ranked markets, but three cities stood out for having the lowest preference scores out of the 52 markets analyzed: Minneapolis, Hartford, CT, and San Jose, CA.
However, of all the apartment markets on the list, Detroit and Tampa, FL, saw the most dramatic drops in overall scores among remote workers.
Detroit's popularity among telecommuters plunged this year due to an above-average surge in living costs, coupled with a significant decrease in its labor market score, landing the Motor City in the 49th spot, according to Capital Economics' researchers.
In Tampa, living costs shot up by 3.6% year over year relative to the national average, the fastest growth among all the markets included in the analysis. It caused the Florida city to drop 10 spots in the rankings, from fourth place last year to the 14th spot in 2025.
"Tampa is more affordable than Austin, but higher-priced than San Antonio and faces increased public awareness of hurricane risk after last year's storms," explains Jones.
January 2025 rental report mirrors data in new study
The new analysis from Capital Economics dovetails with the Realtor.com January 2025 Rental Report, which revealed that the median rent in Austin experienced the third biggest drop year over year among the 50 largest metros in the U.S., shedding 4.8%, to settle at $1,467 a month.
Meanwhile, the median apartment rent in Nashville went down by a more modest 2.5% from a year ago, followed by San Antonio with a 2.1% year-over-year decrease, settling at a median of $1,539 per month.
According to Jones, the typical renter in Nashville would have to spend 40% of their income on housing, compared with about 30% in Austin or San Antonio.
On the other side of the spectrum, two of the three least popular apartment markets among remote workers—Minneapolis and San Jose—saw their median rents go up 0.2% and 2.4%, respectively. Data on Hartford's rentals was not available.
Detroit market favors homebuyers over renters
In January, Detroit was one of only two major U.S. metros—the other being Pittsburgh—where it was cheaper to buy a home than to rent one.
The median home list price in Detroit was $239,950, with the monthly mortgage payment amounting to $1,252, compared with the typical rent of $1,313.
Notably, in January 2024, there were six of the 50 largest metros where buying was less expensive than renting. In the span of a year, that figure has shrunk to two.
"The consistent retreat of rental prices and the persistence of high mortgage rates over the past year have moved the market as a whole in a more renter-friendly direction," writes Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale.
Remote work is waning but not going away
Although the number of remote jobs has declined from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more major companies instituting return-to-office policies, remote work remains popular in the U.S., especially among employees with advanced degrees in their 30s and 40s.
As of January, just over 23% of U.S. employees worked remotely at least part time, amounting to about 38.7 million people, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Not surprisingly, the tech industry has the highest share of telecommuters, who are able to perform their jobs on their computers from anywhere.
Owing to its status as a major technology hub, the Austin metro area in 2022 alone had nearly 9,800 employers in the high tech industries, according to the Austin Chamber."
Source: Realtor.com
Written by: Snejana Farberov
Published: March 4, 2025
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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