Landlord Stats & Trends: Rent, Costs & Investment Outlook

The US residential rental market is quite different now than it was a few years ago, as landlords deal with higher costs, new regulations, and shifting demands from tenants. And the distribution of types of landlords has changed as well. Intentional investors may dominate the headlines, but accidental landlords and lifestyle landlords each have their own distinctive concerns.

What follows is a statistical resource on rental property owners, combining separate sources on who owns rental properties, how much money they make from them, what they spend on operating costs, how they invest in new properties, and how they price them. It's meant for journalists writing about rental housing, for policy analysts studying who owns rental properties, and for market participants looking for data on the state of the industry in 2024-2025.

Landlord Profile & Demographics

Landlord Types

In 2024, intentional investors made up 54% of owners, up from 51% in 2023 and 49% in 2021. As the percentage of accidental landlords decreased from 30% in 2020 to 27% in 2023 to 25% in 2024, the percentage of intentional investors increased correspondingly. Lifestyle landlords accounted for 21% in 2024.

Portfolio Size & Experience

Most US landlords operate small portfolios. The most common number of rental units is 1 (42% of landlords), followed by 2-4 units (33%) and 5-10 units (16%). This means that a whopping 91% of landlords operate rental portfolios of 10 or fewer units. Only 9% operate portfolios larger than 10 units. Of those, the splits are fairly even among size classes: 3% of landlords operate 11-20 units, 3% operate 21-50 units, and 3% operate more than 50 units.

The average age of a landlord is 53, suggesting that most rental property owners are middle-aged Americans who have accumulated enough capital to invest in real estate.

Landlords Have Wide Varieties of Experience

How long have you been a rental property owner? 18% of landlords say 1-2 years, 14% say 3-5 years, 19% say 6-10 years, 15% say 11-15 years, 10% say 16-20 years, and 26% say more than 20 years.

Motivations for Ownership

Why Do You Own Rental Property?

The primary motivation for owning rental property is income. 79% of landlords say they own rental property for the income it generates. 55% say the income is passive, 24% say the income is active.

Other reasons for owning rental property include sentimental reasons (15%), waiting for a good time to sell (8%), using the property as future housing for themselves (9%), and using the property as housing for family or friends (8%).

Property Portfolio Composition

Property Types

Primary Type of Rental Property

Single-family homes dominate. 67% of landlords say single-family homes are their primary type of rental property. By comparison, only 35% of tenants live in single-family rentals. Tenants are more likely than landlords to identify as living in rentals of various types of multifamily housing (apartments, townhomes, duplexes, etc.): 19% of tenants live in multifamily rentals, 11% in apartment buildings of fewer than 11 units, 15% in apartment buildings of 11-50 units, and 18% in apartment buildings of more than 50 units.

Investor purchases of single-family homes rose 6.7% year-over-year in Q2 2024, indicating that single-family homes remain popular with investors.

Financial Performance

Profitability

Profitability of Rental Properties

Only 35% of landlords say their rental properties are profitable year after year. This percentage held steady from 2023 to 2024 even as rental prices rose sharply.

38% of landlords say their rental properties break even financially (mortgage and expenses) but don't generate consistent profit.

19% say some years are profitable and some years aren't.

6% say some years they lose money but haven't fallen behind on payments.

And 2% say they can't cover mortgage or expenses most of the time.

Do Landlords Rely on Rental Income?

58% of landlords say that rental income is their source of funds for paying living expenses. 14% are in this category in a strong sense (rental income is their source for both household expenses and property expenses), 21% in a moderate sense, and 23% in a weak sense (rental income is used mainly for retirement, while current household expenses are covered by other means).

Rent Increases

2024 Rent Changes

2024 was almost universally a year of rent increases. Among landlords, 85% increased rent in 2024, 14% kept it steady, and 1% decreased it.

Landlords' Plans for 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, 78% of landlords say they plan to increase rent, while 22% say they plan to keep rent steady or decrease it.

Sizes of Rent Increases

The most common percentage increase in rent among landlords in 2024 was 6-10%, followed by 1-5% and then 11-15%.

31% of landlords increased rent by 6-10% in 2024. 25% increased it by 1-5%, and 21% increased it by 11-15%.

Operating Costs & Challenges

Overall Cost Increases

Almost all (82%) landlords said that the cost of owning their rental properties increased in the last year. One in four (26%) said the increase was greater than 20% in 2024.

Specific Cost Pressures

Which Costs Increased?

The most common cost increase was property taxes, reported by 60% of landlords. Of those landlords, half faced a property tax increase of more than 6%, and 18% faced an increase of more than 11%.

Property taxes are followed closely by maintenance and repair costs, which increased for 57% of landlords. The average maintenance cost per year for a single-family home exceeded $10,000.

Utility costs increased for 49% of landlords, further squeezing margins on rental homes.

Insurance costs increased for 43% of landlords. While the average homeowner pays $1744 per year for insurance, that cost is typically 15% to 25% higher for rental properties, due to the higher risk. That means the average landlord pays between $2017 and $2172 per year for insurance. Increases in insurance costs are also more severe for landlords than for homeowners. Nearly 1 in 5 (22%) landlords saw an increase in insurance costs of 11% or more, and 13% saw an increase of 21% or more.

Insurance Costs

Insurance Cost Increases

Homeowner's insurance costs $1,754 per year on average.

Landlords pay 15% to 25% more than homeowners for insurance because of the higher risk.

An average landlord pays between $2,017 and $2,192 per year for insurance.

Operational Challenges

Top Regulatory Challenge

Compliance with local regulations and tenant protection laws is the top regulatory challenge for 17% of landlords in 2024.

Property Management Usage

Usage Rates

Use of Property Management Declined Slightly in 2024

58% of landlords used property management in 2024, down slightly from 60% in 2023, continuing a slow decline from the peak of 64% in 2020.

Reasons for Hiring Property Managers

Landlords' number one reason for hiring a property manager is the distance factor. 54% say they don't live near their rental, and that's the biggest reason they need help. The next most common reasons are needing expert help with managing, marketing, and screening tenants (53%), and getting help with emergency repairs and preventative maintenance (47%). Fewer say they need help with legal compliance (30%), accounting and bookkeeping (27%), or maximizing revenue (24%).

Selection Criteria

What Matters Most to Landlords When Choosing a Property Manager?

Landlords say property managers must deliver A+ customer service above all else. 57% say that's the most important quality in a property management company. Only 41% say regular financial reporting and property insights are important, 37% say local market knowledge is important, and 32% say having online tools and "best tech" is important.

Technology Expectations

Landlords Are Ready for More Tech, But Are Property Managers?

99% of landlords want at least some property management functions to be handled online. The top 5 electronic functions landlords want are paying rent (69%), signing and storing documents (63%), communicating with the manager (57%), leasing (55%), and reporting (54%).

Investment & Growth Plans

Acquisition Plans

Investment Plans

Looking ahead two years, 44% of landlords say they plan to buy more properties. That's a big increase from 35% in 2023, and it suggests landlords are feeling more optimistic about rentals than they did last year. Among those who identify as investors, 81% plan to grow their portfolios, 17% plan to stay the same, and 2% plan to shrink. Overall, 11% expect big growth in the number of properties they own, 33% expect moderate growth, 43% expect no change, and 12% expect a decrease.

Market Sentiment

Rental Market Optimism and Smart Buying

71% of landlords say they're optimistic about rental profits in 2025, including 33% who say they're very optimistic. 66% say now is a smart or somewhat smart time to buy residential rentals. 33% say it's a somewhat or very risky time to invest in rentals.

Exit Plans

Selling Plans

About 30% of landlords say there's at least a 50% chance they'll sell one or more properties in the next two years. 15% say it's fairly or very likely they'll sell, and another 15% say it's somewhat likely. 55% say it's unlikely or impossible they'll sell any properties. Among those who do think they'll sell, half also plan to buy new properties, which suggests portfolio rebalancing rather than exit.

Alternative Investment Types

Diversification

Among landlords planning asset diversification, 1 in 3 say they'll buy commercial properties, and 1 in 5 say they'll buy vacation rentals.

Financing & Capital

Financing Methods

Financing Types

Conventional loans are still the most popular financing type among investors, preferred by 44%. Other financing types include all-cash deals (17%), private money loans (13%), home equity line of credit (HELOC) (10%), seller financing (9%), and hard money loans (7%).

Interest Rate Environment

Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates average 6.46% today. That's way up from the near 3% during the pre-pandemic era, but still down quite a bit from the peak of 7.79% in 2023.

Investment Outlook Factors

Financing Costs (35%) Are the Dominant Influence on Property Owners' Outlook, Followed by Home Prices (33%), Ownership Costs (18%), and Inventory (14%)

Tenant Relations

Vacancy Statistics

Vacancy fears are down dramatically among landlords. 52% say they are less worried than last year, including 28% much less worried and 24% less worried, vs. 34% neutral, 10% worried, and 4% much worried. But 6.9% is the national rental vacancy rate as of Q3 2024, up a bit from 6.6% in Q4 2023.

Tenant Retention & Turnover

47% of renters say they intend to stay where they are (a record high since we've been measuring this question annually in 2021), vs. 31% unsure and 22% planning to move at lease renewal. Reasons for moving include moving to a better property (41%), moving to cheaper rent (39%), moving to a better community (23%), moving to a property with better amenities (23%), and moving to a property with better management (19%). Reasons for staying put include liking the location (56%), liking the unit (54%), high cost of moving (44%), liking the management (41%), and fear of rent increases elsewhere (39%).

Tenant Demographics

Renter households are larger, with 2.75 people per household in 2024, up from 2.5 in 2021, due in part to single-family rentals having larger households (3.2) than multifamily (2.5). Plus, 25% of households have children under 18, up almost 5 points since 2020, and about half of Millennial renter households have children.

Technology Adoption

Adoption Barriers

Paying tech adoption costs is the biggest obstacle for landlords adopting new property management tech. 35% cite this as their primary barrier.

Renter Technology Preferences

Wanting to do everything with tech has soared among renters since 2021. 88% today want at least some processes online, including paying rent (75%), even though only 58% of renters pay rent online or by card (up 13 points since 2021). But the biggest miss between tech desire and actual tech is access to resident portals: 76% of renters value access to a resident portal, but only 57% actually have it.

Regulatory Environment

Rent Control

As of 2024, at least 7 states have done their own version of rent control, including California (compounding annual increase limiter of 5% plus inflation), Oregon (7% plus inflation), New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine, and Minnesota.

Compliance Challenges

Dealing with regulations is the 4th-highest concern among property owners when thinking about local rules and tenant protection laws. 17% say it's among their top 3 concerns.

Market Data Context

National Rent Trends

National median rent increased 3.4% in 2024 to $1,964.80, a 32% increase in 5 years. National median rent for 2 bedrooms increased 3.2% to $1,906. Single family had higher average rent at $2,294 in July 2024, up 4.65% from $2,192 in July 2023. Multifamily was lower at $2,070, but also up 3.45%.

Rent Growth by Market

In 2024, 50% of top 50 US markets had annual rent growth of 2-3%, 25% had annual rent growth of 1-2%, 18% had annual rent growth of less than 1%, and some had no growth. For 2025, forecasts are for 40% of markets to have rent growth above 3%, 55% to have rent growth between 2 and 3%, and only 5% to have rent growth below 2%.

Cities with Highest Rent Growth

Rent growth leaders from top 50 markets in 2024 include Oxford, MS (up 25% to $2,341); Athens, OH (up 21% to $1,101); Mount Pleasant, MI (up 17% to $1,008); Orangeburg, SC (up 16% to $1,244); and Hattiesburg, MS (up 16% to $1,285).

Home Prices

The median price of existing homes sold was $422,600 in 2024. It hit $426,900 in July, the peak of the current upcycle.

It is still far cheaper to rent than to buy a home. Renters pay 27% less than buyers in the weighted average of the 50 largest US metro areas.

This keeps demand for rental housing high.

Institutional Investment Activity

In the first quarter of 2024, institutional investors accounted for 18.7% of US home sales. This was the highest share of any quarter in nearly two years.

These investors also made a 55.2% profit on resale in the first quarter of 2024, up from 46.3% a year earlier.

Construction Activity

Housing starts for single-family homes were up 6.5% year on year in 2024, and completions of all types of housing were up 12.4%.

However, construction activity is more heavy on the multifamily side than developers would like. Multifamily starts were down 25% year on year in 2024.

Developers delivered 629,000 new apartment units in 2024 the most in any year since 1986. But the good news for developers is that 612,000 of those units were absorbed by renters.

Apartment unit deliveries are expected to fall 20% in 2025 to 497,000.

Summary

Taken together, these statistics paint a picture of a rental housing market in transition—one shaped by rising costs, evolving tenant expectations, and shifting investment strategies. Whether you're a policymaker trying to understand who owns America’s rental stock, a journalist looking for context behind today’s housing headlines, or an industry participant planning for the road ahead, the data makes one thing clear: the landscape is more dynamic than ever. As 2025 approaches, landlords, tenants, and housing professionals alike will be navigating a market that demands adaptability, deeper insight, and smarter decision-making grounded in real numbers.