Updated April 2026

How RentIndex Calculates Rent and Affordability

RentIndex calculates county rent using HUD Fair Market Rent (the 40th percentile of gross rents), divides it by Census ACS median household income to compute rent burden, and tracks year-over-year change against HUD's prior-year FMR release. All inputs are public-domain federal data refreshed annually.

Primary Data Source: HUD Fair Market Rent

Every rent number on RentIndex begins with HUD Fair Market Rent, published each fiscal year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FMR is the 40th percentile of gross rents for standard-quality, non-substandard rental units in a given Fair Market Rent Area. HUD calculates a separate FMR for studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, and 4-bedroom units. We pull all five via the official HUD User FMR dataset and the HUD FMR API so the numbers on this site match the figures HUD itself uses to set Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment standards.

HUD constructs each year\'s FMR by starting with five-year American Community Survey (ACS) base rents, trimming outliers, and updating to the current fiscal year using changes in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index rent of primary residence index. The full federal methodology is documented in HUD\'s annual FMR Documentation System. We do not adjust HUD\'s published FMRs; the values you see here are exactly the figures HUD released for fiscal year 2026.

Income and Rent Burden

To make raw rent figures meaningful, RentIndex pairs each county\'s 2-bedroom FMR with the latest available median household income from the U.S. Census Bureau\'s American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Rent burden is computed as (annual 2BR FMR / median household income) × 100. We surface the raw percentage rather than a binary "burdened / not burdened" tag so readers can apply their own threshold — though HUD\'s official cost-burden cutoff is 30% and severe cost burden is 50%.

The "income needed for 2BR" figure on each county page is the inverse of the 30% rule: annual 2BR FMR ÷ 0.30. It answers, "What gross household income would HUD consider sufficient to rent a typical 2-bedroom in this county without being cost burdened?" That number is a benchmark, not a recommendation. Individual lenders and landlords often apply different ratios.

Year-over-Year Change

The year-over-year change figures compare each county\'s current 2-bedroom FMR to the previous fiscal year\'s 2-bedroom FMR for that same FMR area, using HUD\'s historical FMR archives. Because HUD recalibrates FMRs on a fiscal-year basis (October 1 to September 30), our YoY values reflect federal fiscal years rather than calendar years. When HUD redraws an FMR area boundary — for example, splitting a metro into county subareas — the YoY number is suppressed for that county until two consecutive years of comparable geography are available.

Reference Series and External Validation

Where possible, we cross-check FMR movements against two independent BLS series: the CPI rent of primary residence index and the CUUR0000SEHA rent series on FRED. These reference series come from the same federal pipeline that HUD itself uses to age FMRs, so they should track closely. Persistent divergence between RentIndex YoY change and BLS rent CPI is a signal that HUD has redrawn an FMR area or trimmed an outlier sample, not a data error.

What We Do Not Publish

RentIndex does not publish unit-level listing data, asking rent from third-party listing platforms, or modeled rent estimates. We also do not give personal financial or housing advice. The site is a reference layer on top of public federal data — every figure can be traced back to a HUD or Census source, and every page links to the relevant primary dataset. For lease decisions, voucher applications, or local market questions, contact a HUD-approved housing counselor or a licensed real estate professional in your state.

Update Cadence

HUD publishes new FMRs in late summer for the upcoming federal fiscal year. RentIndex refreshes within seven days of each release. Census ACS income tables update once a year in mid-December; we refresh income and rent-burden columns within two weeks of that release. The dataset on the site was last refreshed April 2026, currently covering 693 counties with a national median 2BR FMR of $1,250 and median household income of $71,049.

Citation

Cite RentIndex as: "RentIndex, FY2026 reading. Data: HUD Fair Market Rent, U.S. Census ACS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Rent." All inputs are U.S. government public domain.