Florida’s Most Expensive Apartment Markets, Ranked by Rent-to-Income

Although many major apartment markets in Florida have average effective asking rents below the national norm, most have subsequent rent-to-income ratios above the U.S. average. In other words, when looking at rent-to-income ratios across the Sunshine State, most markets look more expensive than the nation at large. Palm Bay, located along the Atlantic coastline, just about an hour southeast of Orlando, claimed the state’s highest rent to income ratio as of July at over 26%. Nationwide, rent-to-income ratios hovered around 22.5% as of July on a trailing 12-month basis, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. Meanwhile, only one of Florida’s largest apartment markets boasted a rent-to-income ratio below the national norm: Lakeland at 22% as of July. Deltona, Tampa and Miami also posted rent-to-income ratios within 100 basis points of the national norm.

RealPage’s rent-to-income ratio represents signed new leases in market-rate apartments, calculated on a trailing 12-month basis to eliminate seasonality.