Median apartment rents across Fairfax County in August were down 1% from a year before, but remained well above pre-Covid levels.
Median rents for the month stood at $2,073 for one-bedroom units, $2,401 for two bedrooms and $2,419 overall, according to figures reported Aug. 28 by Apartment List.
The overall rate was down slightly from the $2,442 recorded in August 2025 and from the all-time countywide monthly peak of $2,471 reported in June 2025.
But it was up 4.4% from $2,317 since the start of the year, and remained significantly higher than the $1,971 reported in March 2020, just before the Covid pandemic upended local and national rental markets.
Countywide, the rental market bottomed out at a median overall rental cost of $1,818 in January 2021 before beginning to rebound.
Similar trajectories played out in specific corridors of the county.
In Tysons, the median rental rate for all units was $2,373 in March 2020, falling to $2,066 in January 2021 before beginning to claw its way back. In August 2026, it stood at $2,655.
Among communities in Fairfax tracked by Apartment List:
- Annandale: Median rents for August were $1,864 for one-bedroom units, $2,127 for two bedrooms, down 6.2% year-over-year
- Centreville: Median rents were $2,068/$2,403, down 1.9%
- Fair Oaks: Median rents were $2,184/$2,442, down 4.7%
- Fairfax City: Median rents were $1,918/$2,195, down 2.4%
- Herndon: Median rents were $1,870/$2,244, up 0.4%
- Reston: Median rents were $2,253/$2,385, up 0.2%
- Tysons: Median rents were $2,415/$2,895, down 0.3%
Among Fairfax’s neighbors:
- August’s median rents in Alexandria were $2,019 for one-bedroom units, $2,481 for two bedrooms and $2,205 overall, down 2.8%
- In Arlington, median rental rates of $2,460 for one-bedroom units, $2,973 for two bedrooms and $2,612 overall declined 0.8%
The median rental rate in the D.C. metro area was $2,174 in August. The national median rental rate of $1,390 — $1,221 for one-bedroom units, $1,372 for two bedrooms — was down 0.8% from a year ago, according to the data.
Each month, Apartment List releases detailed data on 100 large urban areas. No Fairfax community is included, but neighbor Arlington is.
Arlington’s overall rental rate of $2,612 in August was the fifth most expensive rental market among 100 urban areas tracked, and the most expensive outside California.
The only areas besting the county price-wise were San Francisco ($3,844), San Jose ($3,132), Irvine ($3,092) and Fremont ($2,968).
On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest median apartment rates for the month were turned in by Toledo ($916), Wichita ($1,039) and Cleveland ($1,045).
Apartment List analysts say the August figures suggest the market should be poised for a modest upturn nationally:
“Rents are still falling, but not as fast as they used to be. Year-over-year rent growth has now been trending up for four straight months, after bottoming out at -1.6% in April. That April figure matched a record low in our estimates, going back to 2017, as demand stagnated amid a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty. But we now appear to have hit an inflection point, signaling that the rental market may finally be stabilizing as construction slows and a recent influx of new units gets absorbed.”
August’s national median rent was up 0.1% compared to July.
“While modest, this month’s increase is notable because it’s the first time we’ve observed positive rent growth in August since 2022,” analysts said, adding:
“In recent years, rents had dipped slightly in August, as the rental market’s off-season shifted earlier in the year amid soft conditions. By bucking that trend, this month’s data offer another sign that the rental market is turning the corner. At the same time, we are still at the tail end of the peak moving season, and as such, rent growth is currently decelerating. Prices will likely begin their off-season dip in the next month or two in line with typical seasonal patterns.”
A “historic surge” in multifamily residential construction peaked in 2024 with 600,000 new units hitting the market, the most supply added since 1986. Construction has slowed since then, and the market is beginning to absorb the available inventory.
Zumper sees prices decline
Another analytics firm, Zumper, reported that nationally, median rents were $1,515 for one-bedroom units in August, down 0.1% from a year earlier, and $1,907 for two-bedroom units, a 0.5% uptick.
“The national numbers are starting to look more constructive, but I still wouldn’t call this a broad recovery,” Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy said. “Supply remains the dividing line. Markets that worked through their inventory are beginning to tighten, while places that absorbed enormous amounts of new construction are still giving renters meaningful leverage.”
Manhattan in New York led the pack in August with a median one-bedroom rent of $4,500, while San Francisco, boosted by a 26% year-over-year increase, stood second at $4,300.
Boston was third at $2,960, while San Jose ($2,880) traded places with Jersey City ($2,830), rising from fifth to fourth place.
Nashville and Memphis had some of the largest annual rent declines in the country outside of Texas this month, with one-bedroom rents both down 10% year-over-year to medians of $1,520 and $890, respectively.
Both cities are working through the same dynamic playing out across much of the Sun Belt, where a multi-year wave of new apartment construction outpaced demand and is still being absorbed, Zumper analysts said.
Nashville alone has gained nearly 35,900 units since 2023, with deliveries peaking in 2024 and staying elevated in 2025.
