University of Chicago Apartments

Chicago:
May Rent Report

Welcome to the May 2026 Chicago Apartment Report. In this assessment of the local rental market, Rentable data scientists and rental experts break down the May 2026 key findings and figures for the Chicago rental landscape.

Our experts analyze the pricing trends — one-bedroom, two-bedroom, year-over-year and month-over-month — in Chicago and surrounding areas and provide comparisons to the entire metro area, nearby cities and some of the most desirable and expensive cities in the United States. Take a look at the last 12 months of Chicago average rent prices in the chart below.

May Prices: Chicago vs. Surrounding Areas

Rent Prices in Chicago and Surrounding Areas

Rent prices have decreased in Chicago over the last month. But how have the surrounding areas fared when it comes to the recent volatility in apartment prices? Rent prices in 0 of the Chicago suburbs increased last month. On the other hand, 0 local areas experienced a decrease in the price of a one-bedroom apartment.

More key findings include:

• Rents did not increase in any of the Chicago suburbs

• Rents did not decrease in any of the Chicago suburbs.

Data set for Chicago and suburbs

Methodology

Each month, using over 1 million Rentable listings across the United States, we calculate the median 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom rent prices by city, state, and nation, and track the month-over-month percent change. To avoid small sample sizes, we restrict the analysis for our reports to cities meeting minimum population and property count thresholds.