Which cities are poised to become rental hotspots for tenants searching for new apartments in 2025? According to the latest report from RentCafe, several of them are in the Midwest, including Detroit and Minneapolis.
In fact, RentCafe includes six Midwest cities in its list of top 10 cities for rental activity to watch in 2025.
To determine which cities belong on this list, RentCafe looked at the online engagement rates on RentCafe.com for the last year. From this data, the researchers here predicted which cities are poised to become hotspots for apartment rental activity in 2025.
Minneapolis landed the top spot on RentCafe’s survey. This is largely because of how strong this rental market was last year. RentCafe said that Minneapolis secured the number-one spot seven times last year on its most sought-after rental markets list.
Minneapolis saw page views on RentCafe increase by 36% last year when compared to 2023, a sign of growing interest among renters. The city also saw its number of saved searches on RentCafe.com increase by 8% last year.
Coming in third place is Overland Park, Kansas, which RentCafe says has become a popular location for apartment renters looking for suburban living. Page views for Overland Park multifamily units grew by an impressive 48% last year, RentCafe said, while saved searches increased by 6%. RentCafe says that both are signs of growing interest from potential renters.
Cleveland landed in fourth place on RentCafe’s list. This city experienced a 26% increase in page views last year. Renters also favorited 7% more listings, RentCafe said.
Detroit nabbed the seventh spot on RentCafe’s list. RentCafe pointed to Detroit’s current renaissance featuring revitalized neighborhoods and a busy arts-and-culture scene. RentCafe reported that Detroit multifamily listings saw a surge of 49% in page views in 2024 when compared to a year earlier. RentCafe ranked Detroit in the top-five most sought-after rental destinations seven times in 2024.
The biggest city in the Midwest, Chicago, ranked ninth on RentCafe’s list. It experienced a 7% increase in page views in 2024 when compared to 2023. RentCafe said that Chicago also attracted a range of renters moving to the city from such big markets as New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Cincinnati came in 10th place. RentCafe pointed to this city’s cost of living that ranks 3% below the national average, its historic charm and its growing tech industry as draws for renters.
