Apartment rent keeps going up in Texas, and in Houston the increase is nearly 11 percent more than last year, making it increasingly difficult to afford living in the city. That’s according to a new national rent report from online rental marketplace Zumper.

Despite rent increases showing a small slowdown month-over-month, overall prices are still on the high side from the previous year. For example, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Houston is $1,650 now, in March of 2023, which is a .60 percent increase from the previous month, but a nearly 11 percent increase from 2022 at 10.7 percent. The average rent for a one-bedroom is $1,350, which is a mere 3.1 percent increase month-over-month, but also a whopping 10.7 percent increase from last year.

The report looked at rental data from more than one million active listings in the top 100 cities in the United States to determine the rankings. Zumper ranked Houston the No. 51 most expensive rental market across the nation in February of 2023, up one place from the last report.

The report attributes these recent rental increase trends to the nation's rising inflation rate and unpredictable economy. Though unemployment is low (less than 3.4 percent), potential homebuyers are being sidelined with increasing interest rates. This is causing more competition among renters all over the country.

“Many markets continue to either normalize or correct following the steep increases in rent seen in 2021 [and 2022] in the zero interest rate [and] QE environment we went through,” said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades in the report. “With interest rates expected to rise further in 2023, we anticipate continued deceleration in rent rises as new household formation freezes or is at least postponed.”

Just four places down the list from Houston is Fort Worth, coming in as the No. 55 most expensive rental market, which is a five-place increase from a previous report. Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment increased over the last month, at $1,300, and is still 7.4 percent higher than it was last year. Two-bedroom apartments saw a much smaller year-over-year increase at 3.2 percent, with the average rent price at $1,600.

Five cities in the DFW metro area also made the list, as well as Austin (No. 25) and El Paso (No. 95). Most notably, Irving (No. 34) is experiencing a nearly 15 percent year-over-year rent increase for both one- and two-bedroom apartments.

The nine total Texas cities that made the list include:

• No. 25 – Austin
• No. 34 – Irving
• No. 36 – Dallas
• No. 40 – Plano
• No. 51 – Houston
• No. 55 – Fort Worth
• No. 66 – San Antonio
• No. 67 – Arlington
• No. 95 – El Paso

The full data from Zumper’s National Rent Report can be found at zumper.com.