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Tampa rent rose more than any other US city since start of pandemic, report says

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The cost of rent across the United States is going up for the first time in five months according to new rental data from ApartmentList. Their March report said in Tampa, rents were up higher than the rest of the country.

However, Tampa’s rent has been increasing since December.

While the whole country saw rent prices rise during the pandemic, among the nation’s biggest cities, Tampa’s costs rose the most, according to ApartmentList.

Of the cities with the top 10 increases in rent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, four of the areas were in Florida. ApartmentList’s national rent report showed that Tampa rent rose 38 more than any other area since the start of the pandemic.

Metro AreaRent increase since March 2020
Tampa, Fla.38%
Tucson, Ariz.37%
Miami, Fla.36%
Rochester, N.Y.33%
Riverside, Calif.31%
Jacksonville, Fla.31%
Orlando, Fla.29%
Phoenix, Ariz.29%
Las Vegas, Nev.28%
San Diego, Calif.28%
(Source: ApartmentList)

Zooming in on the Tampa area, rent is the 26th most expensive rent of the largest U.S. cities, according to ApartmentList, and has gone up higher than the rest of the country. While the rest of the U.S. had the average cost of rent go up 0.3%, Tampa prices rose 0.7% in the past month.

Of the biggest 100 cities in the U.S., ApartmentList said Tampa was ranked 17th for highest rent growth. Compared to what the real estate company calls a metro-wide median, Tampa is 4% higher for rental prices.

For the city of Tampa, the median price is $1,712 per month, while the wider Tampa metro area has rent prices at $1,647 for a two-bedroom apartment. Looking at other nearby cities, rent growth year-over-year for Tampa was 2.1%, with only Pinellas Park and Largo showing higher increases, annually, for renters.

Month-by-month, Tampa was behind Clearwater and Pinellas Park for rent growth.

CityMedian 1BRMedian 2BRM/M ChangeY/Y Change
Bradenton$1,558$1,811-0.2%-2.8%
Brandon$1,465$1,763-1.3%-1.4%
Clearwater$1,292$1,7251.7%-0.1%
Dunedin$1,272$1,716-0.6%-3.7%
Largo$1,332$1,6090.7%2.4%
Lakeland$1,146$1,4090.7%-3.1%
Pinellas Park$1,090$1,4692%4.9%
Riverview$1,623$1,830-1.1%-2.8%
Sarasota$1,455$1,9200.3%-0.1%
St. Petersburg$1,334$1,6970.6%1.3%
Tampa$1,412$1,7420.7%2.1%
Town ‘n’ Country$1,534$1,967-0.5%0.1%
Wesley Chapel$1,624$1,9640.4%-0.9%
(Source: ApartmentList)

In a separate study of rental cost increases, Zumper reported Tuesday that one-bedroom prices were rising faster than two-bedroom apartments across the U.S.

For Tampa renters, prices were up in the opposite direction, with rents for two-bedroom apartments increasing faster than one-bedroom options. While the national figures were 7.3% increases for one-beds and 6.8% for twos, Tampa rooms were up 3.8% for one-bedrooms and 6.5% for two-bedrooms, year-over-year.