Chicago may have lost some of its biggest billionaires, but finding an apartment in the Windy City has never been more competitive.<\/p>\n
Despite years of headlines about violent crime,<\/a> corporate departures and wealthy residents heading for sunnier pastures, Chicago has overtaken Miami to become America\u2019s most competitive rental market, according to a new RentCafe report<\/a>.<\/p>\n An average of 17 prospective renters competed for every available apartment during the peak 2026 leasing season, with vacancies filling in just 27 days.<\/p>\n Chicago has overtaken Miami as America\u2019s most competitive rental market in 2026. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images<\/p>\n It\u2019s a remarkable climb for a city that ranked fifth during the 2024 peak rental season<\/a> and second in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just four years ago, Chicago was making headlines for an entirely different reason.<\/p>\n Billionaire hedge fund founder Ken Griffin moved Citadel\u2019s headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022, citing concerns over crime and political leadership, and has since been selling off his Chicago real estate holdings<\/a>, including his final home in the city.<\/p>\n Billionaire Ken Griffin moved Citadel\u2019s headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022, citing crime and political concerns. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n The departure came amid a wave of high-profile corporate relocations, including Boeing\u2019s decision that same year to move its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia.<\/p>\n But while some of Chicago\u2019s wealthiest residents and major employers have headed elsewhere, competition for the city\u2019s apartments has only intensified.<\/p>\n \u201cChicago\u2019s rise is primarily a supply story reinforced by steady demand. The city did not suddenly experience an unprecedented influx of renters,\u201d Doug Ressler, a senior analyst at RentCafe, told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, apartment construction slowed dramatically while renters continued to compete for a very limited number of openings.\u201d<\/p>\n An average of 17 renters competed for each available Chicago apartment during peak leasing season. Aaron \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Chicago\u2019s housing shortage is nothing new. But the latest figures suggest the squeeze is getting worse.<\/p>\n Newly built apartments accounted for just 0.27% of Chicago\u2019s rental inventory, according to RentCafe\u2019s analysis.<\/p>\n Apartment construction across the Chicago region is expected to fall to its lowest level in more than a decade this year, while the metro area faces an estimated shortage of 165,000 homes, according to the report.<\/p>\n Mark Brown, a Chicago real estate broker with HotSpot Rentals who specializes in luxury high-rise apartments, said the shrinking supply has made finding desirable units increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n The shortage is also driving up prices. Brown said one-bedroom apartments that rented for roughly $2,800 to $2,900 three years ago are now commanding as much as $3,800 to $4,000.<\/p>\n That squeeze has left more than 95% of apartments occupied, with nearly two-thirds of existing tenants renewing their leases rather than moving out.<\/p>\n Chicago also offers something increasingly rare in major American cities: relative affordability.<\/p>\n Chicago apartments sat vacant for just 27 days on average, nine days fewer than in Miami. SeanPavonePhoto \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Compared with coastal markets such as New York and San Francisco, the Midwestern hub offers big-city jobs, restaurants and cultural attractions without the same sky-high housing costs.<\/p>\n \u201cAffordability is part of Chicago\u2019s appeal, especially relative to New York, Miami and other coastal gateway markets,\u201d Ressler said. \u201cBut we should not overstate migration as the sole explanation. The stronger evidence is that Chicago has a very limited supply of available apartments.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Miami, the city that welcomed Griffin and Citadel, has lost its grip on the top spot.<\/p>\n Miami slipped to second place nationally, with 16 renters competing for each available apartment. Ryan Tishken \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The Florida hotspot ranked first in RentCafe\u2019s 2024<\/a> and 2025<\/a> year-end reports.<\/p>\n But it slipped to second place this summer, with 16 prospective renters competing for each available apartment, compared with Chicago\u2019s 17.<\/p>\n \u201cMiami has not become an easy rental market. It remains nearly 96% occupied, roughly 70% of renters renew, and about 16 renters compete for each opening,\u201d said Ressler.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat changed is that Chicago\u2019s available apartments began leasing even faster. Chicago\u2019s average vacancy period dropped to 27 days, compared with 36 in Miami, giving Chicago the edge in the overall index.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Manhattan couldn\u2019t match Chicago\u2019s rental frenzy.<\/p>\n Manhattan tied for fourth nationally, with 12 renters competing for each available apartment. elena_suvorova \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The New York borough tied for fourth nationally, with 12 prospective renters chasing each available apartment and 96% of units occupied.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in New York City, Queens jumped 10 spots to No. 22 nationally, overtaking Brooklyn, which fell to No. 26.<\/p>\n The findings come as rental competition has eased slightly nationwide, with an average of nine prospective renters competing for each available apartment.<\/p>\n But with apartment construction slowing across the country, renters in some of America\u2019s biggest cities may still face an uphill battle finding a place to call home.<\/p>\n The report analyzed rental conditions across 139 US markets through July 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chicago may have lost some of its biggest billionaires, but finding an apartment in the Windy City has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[98,8287,303,68,75,84,83,5546,9,24,63,122,1491,564,4753,3006,901],"class_list":["post-369158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-brooklyn","tag-chicago","tag-crime","tag-exclusive","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-miami","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-real-estate","tag-rent","tag-rentals","tag-residential-real-estate","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}