Small commuter towns became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, when employees started working from home. Five years later, these more affordable locales remain prevalent. Operators have been pushing rental rates in these commuter markets in light of strong demand and occupancy readings, but prices still remain behind larger markets nearby. For example, effective asking rents in January were at $1,743 in Allentown, PA, a small commuter market roughly an hour and a half drive to Philadelphia or two hours to New York. Workers willing to live in this smaller town and commute to the bigger cities pay about $100 less than the average rent in Philadelphia and a whopping $2,700 less per month than they would if they lived in New York. Two small towns that have become commutable to New York in the wake of more flexible work-from-home and hybrid policies are New Haven, CT and Trenton, NJ, where rents are roughly $2,000 less than prices in New York. As a result, operators have pushed rental rates above average, as prices in these two locales have grown by about half since 2020. In comparison, effective asking rents in the U.S. overall have grown about 27% on average during that period.
For more information on the state of apartment markets across the Northeast, including forecasts, watch the webcast Market Intelligence: Q1 2025 Northeast Region.
