Apartment rental rates across Fairfax County pushed higher in August, bucking a national downward trend during the month.
Year-over-year median rental rates were up in six of the seven areas of the county surveyed by Apartment List. Updated figures were reported Aug. 28.
As is typical, Tysons led the pack. Its median rental rates of $2,457 for one-bedroom units and $2,947 for two-bedroom units represented a 1.8% increase from a year before.
Among other areas of the county:
- Annandale: Median rental prices were $1,981 for one-bedroom units, $2,261 for two bedrooms, a year-over-year increase of 7.6%
- Centreville: Median rents were $2,113/$2,454, an increase of 0.2%
- Fair Oaks: Median rents were $2,297/$2,567, up 1.9%
- Fairfax: Median rents were $1,962/$2,246, down 0.1%
- Herndon: Median rents were $1,876/$2,240, up 1.5%
- Reston: Median rents were $2,252/$2,385, up 4.3%
The Merrifield and Mosaic area, which typically is included in the monthly report, was not part of the latest data.
Across the Washington region, the median rental rate was $2,198 in August, with Tysons and Ashburn vying for the second highest rental rates. They trailed Arlington, which had median rates of $2,473 for one-bedroom units and $2,989 for two bedrooms.
Rental rates in the region are likely to follow typical seasonal trends down through the early 2026. An influx of recently completed units could give renters more of an upper hand than they’ve had in recent years.
As part of its monthly report, Apartment List ranks 100 of the nation’s largest urban areas, including Arlington and the District.
Among the 100 large urban areas surveyed monthly by Apartment List, Arlington retained its ranking of fifth-most expensive. The top four all were in California: Irvine (median rental rate of $3,084), San Francisco ($3,040) and Fremont ($2,809).
D.C. ranked 14th most expensive, with a median overall rate of $2,210.
The least expensive urban area in the survey was Toledo, where the median rental rate for the month was $867.
Nationally, August’s median rental rate of $1,400 was down 0.9% year-over-year. While 22% above the rate of January 2021, August’s figure represented the first month-over-month decline since January and was the lowest since December 2023.
“All of our key indicators are pointing toward ongoing sluggishness in the multifamily rental market,” Apartment List analysts said, adding:
“Rent growth is slipping and the vacancy rate is at an all-time high. The outlook has been complicated by a continued influx of new units to the market and macroeconomic whiplash being caused by tariffs and other policies being pursued by the Trump Administration.”
Across the nation, urban areas were almost equally split between those where rental costs were rising and where they were falling.
The fastest declines were concentrated in the South and Mountain West, areas that have seen a building spurt that has exceeded immediate demand.
“With construction expected to slow further in the second half of this year and into 2026, conditions are likely to shift, but it will still take time for the market to metabolize the recent growth in the rental stock,” the analysts said.
Nationally, the 7.1% vacancy rate reported in August was the highest in the history of the index. The 29 days required for an apartment owner to lease a unit was up from 28 a month before, but down from 37 recorded at the start of 2025.
Apartment List is one of a number of firms that report monthly apartment-rental data down to the local level. Rent.com also provides updates, using average, rather than median, prices.
In the most recent Rent.com data, the average rental price for a studio apartment across Fairfax was $2,039, up 1%. Average rental rates were $2,280 for one-bedroom units (+4%) and $2,789 for two-bedroom units (+2%).
