Fair Market Rent Changes by Metro: Biggest Increases and Cuts

HUD's Fair Market Rent changes show how a published housing-cost benchmark moved, not how much a landlord can automatically raise the rent. The tables below compare two-bedroom metro FMRs with the previous fiscal year. Use them to identify areas worth investigating, then verify the housing authority's adopted payment standard, the unit's reasonable rent and the family's utility and affordability calculation.

In the October 1, 2026 data check, RentalCalcs matched 638 HUD metro-area identifiers across FY2026 and FY2027: 431 increased, 205 decreased and two were unchanged. That is a dated check of the data behind these tables, not a forecast of rent growth or a count of landlords whose income changed. The live blocks update when a later complete HUD dataset reaches the site.

Metro areas with the biggest Fair Market Rent increases

Two bedroom Fair Market Rent, FY2027 against FY2026. HUD lowered the figure in 205 of 638 metro areas. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents.

These are percentage changes in the two-bedroom benchmark. A smaller starting amount can produce a large percentage increase from a modest dollar change. Compare both columns before deciding how much an area moved. A HUD Metro FMR Area can also be a subarea with a familiar metro name rather than the entire region you have in mind.

For example, the October 1 review found St. James Parish, Louisiana's HUD metro area moving from $921 to $1,165, a $244 increase of about 26.5%. Hattiesburg, Mississippi moved from $1,047 to $1,316, about 25.7%. Those are FY2026-to-FY2027 benchmark comparisons in the stored HUD data. They are not approved owner rents, and the dated examples should not override a newer year displayed in the live table.

Metro areas where Fair Market Rent was cut

Two bedroom Fair Market Rent, FY2027 against FY2026. HUD lowered the figure in 205 of 638 metro areas. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents.

A decline does not by itself establish that current asking rents fell by the same percentage. HUD combines survey information, inflation adjustments, geography and methodology to set these benchmarks. Its FY2027 FMR notice discusses the year's methodology and October 1, 2026 effective date, including changes to its utility inflation calculation. Read the documentation before attributing a change entirely to local demand.

The October review included Gem County, Idaho at $1,190 to $1,071, exactly a 10% decrease, and Flagstaff, Arizona at $1,921 to $1,729, about a 10% decrease. A rounded percentage hides the different dollar amounts. A landlord still needs a property-specific lease and payment-standard review before adjusting a budget.

What a Fair Market Rent change means for a landlord

Keep four different numbers separate. FMR is a HUD reference. A payment standard is the housing authority's subsidy benchmark. Rent to owner is the approved lease rent, while gross rent includes the applicable allowance for tenant-paid utilities. Mixing them is how an attractive table becomes an overstated investment projection.

The HUD FMR dataset page is the starting point for the first row. The administering authority is the source for the next steps. A basic payment-standard range is commonly 90% to 110% of the applicable FMR, with exceptions and specific program rules. That range is not a landlord's entitlement to receive its top value.

The Section 8 rent-calculation guide explains how these amounts fit together. In areas using Small Area FMRs, a metro-wide ranking can be less useful than the applicable ZIP benchmark. Check the Small Area FMR guide before transferring a metro figure into a ZIP-level deal.

A worked example: a higher standard without a higher owner rent

Consider a hypothetical household with a $600 total tenant payment, a $150 allowance for tenant-paid utilities and an approved $1,650 rent to owner. Gross rent is $1,800. Assume its applicable payment standard rises from $1,750 to $1,850 and that all other inputs remain unchanged.

The owner's approved $1,650 rent has not changed. Assistance rises by $50 and the family's share falls by $50. The additional $100 in the payment standard produces neither a $100 owner-rent increase nor a $100 assistance increase in this example.

The assistance framework is in 24 CFR 982.505. Actual calculations depend on the family's applicable voucher and dwelling sizes, income determination, utilities and other program rules. This example assumes positive assistance paid toward owner rent and does not model a utility reimbursement.

If the owner separately requests an increase, the authority must still assess reasonable rent and the tenancy's applicable requirements. Asking for a higher amount is a distinct process from HUD publishing a new FMR. Review how voucher income gets valued before capitalizing a proposed increase as though it were already received.

When Fair Market Rent goes down

A lower HUD benchmark is a reason to revisit a new acquisition budget. It is not enough information to conclude that every existing tenant's subsidy or every signed lease immediately changes.

Under the reviewed payment-standard regulation, an authority may maintain a family's existing standard while it remains in the same assisted unit. If the authority elects to reduce that standard, the rule includes timing and notice protections: the initial reduction cannot begin earlier than two years after the schedule decrease, and the family must receive at least twelve months' written notice of a reduction that affects it. The authority must follow its administrative plan. Other changes, including family unit size, can have separate treatment.

For increases during a HAP contract, the same regulation specifies implementation deadlines tied to a qualifying gross-rent increase, the family's first regular or interim reexamination, or one year after the standard's effective date, whichever applies earliest. Therefore, 'everyone gets the new amount at the next annual review' is too simple. Ask the authority about the actual household, unit and effective date.

For underwriting, keep a current-approved-rent case and a separate future case with its own start month. Do not fund debt service with an increase that has only been requested. If the new lease-up depends on a different standard, get that schedule and the affordability calculation before treating the unit as financially ready.

How to use these tables

Start with the property address and bedroom count, then identify the administering housing authority. The county, postal city and HUD area label do not always identify the right authority on their own. Save the effective dates of the FMR, payment standard and utility allowance together; dates from different systems can legitimately differ.

Use the Section 8 analyzer to explore the property and ZIP reference. Verify adopted standards and approved rent separately. The state comparison map provides another research view, but its comparison with an all-size market index cannot demonstrate a rent premium for a particular two-bedroom unit.

Then build two operating scenarios. In the first, use the rent you can support today with realistic vacancy, collection, management, repairs and capital costs. In the second, change only the documented future rent and the month it begins. Hold the financing terms constant so you can identify the actual difference caused by the rent change. The single-family calculator supports the operating analysis; a monthly calendar supplies the timing.

For a simple hypothetical delay, assume a $100 monthly rent increase would leave $92 after an 8% management charge, before taxes and other changes. A twelve-month year at the new rent adds $1,104. If approval and the effective date leave only four months at the new rent, the same year adds $368. Underwriting the full twelve months would overstate that year's cash by $736. This calculation prices timing; it does not predict whether the increase will be approved.

Keep the source documents with the saved property analysis. A future reader should be able to tell which figure was a HUD benchmark, which was an adopted authority standard, which was approved rent, and which remained a sensitivity assumption.

How these rankings are built

The live tables read HUD metro rows from RentalCalcs' stored FMR datasets. They compare the latest available year with the immediately preceding year, joining records by HUD area identifier. The metric is the percentage change in the two-bedroom amount: current value divided by prior value, minus one. Areas without a valid prior amount have no calculated change. Unchanged areas appear in neither directional ranking.

Matching identifiers do not independently prove that geography or estimation methods stayed constant. Read HUD's geographic definitions and revision notes for any area used in an investment decision. These tables do not perform a separate boundary audit, weight areas by population, or estimate the change in approved voucher rents.

Market trends are a separate question. Consult the county market pages and their dated series for broader context, and use bedroom-specific property comparables to test achievable rent. A program benchmark, a city rent index and a signed comparable lease measure different things. The useful decision comes from reconciling them, not selecting whichever is highest.

Before relying on a ranking, confirm that both year labels are present, open the authority's current schedule and check whether its date has changed. If data is unavailable or an area cannot be matched, leave the comparison unresolved rather than filling the gap with a guessed increase. A complete, dated underwriting file is more valuable than an impressive percentage without a usable property-level interpretation.

For an acquisition committee or lending file, record who verified each document and when the next review is due. A listing screenshot cannot substitute for an authority schedule. A schedule cannot substitute for the approved owner rent. Keeping that chain visible makes a later change easier to diagnose before it reaches the cash-flow model.