These suburbs saw the largest increases in renters during the pandemic

The wave of migration set off by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed home prices through the roof in towns that had previously been relatively sleepy. While data shows that some narratives at the time proved to be a bit overstated, there’s no question that it reshaped housing markets across the country.

A recent study from Point2Homes analyzed population data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that a number of suburbs experienced significant shifts in renter rates before and after the pandemic.

The suburbs with the highest percentage-point increases in their shares of renters between 2018 and 2023 tend to be part of metropolitan areas that received an influx of new residents looking to buy houses, or those that have otherwise seen home prices rise rapidly.

Eleven of the top 20 suburbs for renter growth are in California or Texas — with Texas being a common destination for expats of California. There are also two suburbs in the Miami metro area and two more in Seattle.

Interestingly, many of the top 20 suburbs that saw the biggest declines in their renter rates — or, inversely, an increase in their homeownership rates — were also markets that boomed during the pandemic.

Seven are in Florida, while the Phoenix, Denver and Seattle metro areas each account for two. The fact that renter rates declined rather than increasing in these suburbs might suggest that the people buying homes there were coming from within, rather than from outside.

Between 2018 and 2023, 15 suburbs became majority-renter areas, which brings the total across the U.S. to 203. Ten of these new majority-renter suburbs are on the East Coast and in areas where home-price appreciation has been rapid. Four are in New Jersey, two are in Florida and two are in Massachusetts.

Of the 15 that flipped, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, had the highest percentage-point increase at 10.9 points, followed by the New Jersey cities of East Franklin (+9.7 points) and Bound Brook (+8.3 points).