Median gross rent increased in 2023 at highest rate since 2011

One of the ways the U.S. Census Bureau keeps track of what is happening in the country is through the American Community Survey. 

Data for “selected housing characteristics” for 2023 were released earlier this month and for the first time since 2013, the gross cost to rent increased at a rate higher than median home values. 

Gross rent is rent plus the average monthly cost of utilities and the average nationwide was $1,406 compared to $1,354 in 2022. That’s a 3.8 percent yearly increase. The gross rent in 2011 was $1,186 in 2011. 

The median home value has grown from $236,400 in 2011 to $340,200 in 2023. 

All figures are listed in 2023 dollars to adjust for inflation. 

“Despite this large spike, the share of renter income spent on rent and utilities remained at 31 percent in 2023, an indication that renter household incomes kept pace with rent hikes,” writes Census Bureau economist Jacob Fabina of the Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics division.

Virginia is above the nationwide average in median gross rent with a figure of $1,567 though the Fifth Congressional District is much lower at $1,096.  

The median home value in Virginia in 2023 is estimated at $382,900 and $280,400 in the Fifth District. 

The estimated gross monthly rent in Albemarle County in 2023 was $1,607 and the average median value of a home is $492,800, plus or minus $20,977. 

Figures are not available for the five other Thomas Jefferson Planning District localities because the ACS data for single years are only available for jurisdictions with a population of 65,000 or more. 

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