Baseline edition · published September 9, 2026
Austin Rent Report: September 2026
Where Austin starting rents, free rent offers and building classes stand this month. Our tracking is not yet a full month deep, so this edition reports levels rather than movement. Data from the pricing we buy, collect and research every day.
Data reviewed by Ross Quade, Licensed Apartment Locator (TREC #679806)How we get our data
The deal climate #
70.8% of the 1,259 priced communities we track are running a move-in special right now, and the average offer is 7.1 weeks of free rent. The heaviest concentration is in Manor, where 93.8% of priced communities are offering something, followed by Pflugerville at 84.6% and Northwest at 80%.
Class A communities discount hardest: 82.1% are running a special, against 69.9% of Class B and 58.5% of Class C. New buildings fill up by paying renters to move in, and right now the average Class A special is 7.6 weeks free.
What starting rents look like #
The citywide median starting rent is $1,220 for Class A, $1,047 for Class B and $899 for Class C. The cheapest published starting rent among priced Class A communities is $555, which shows how wide the range inside a single class runs.
Southeast carries the lowest area median at $925, and Downtown the highest at $1,972.
AustinApartments.com price ledger, updated daily.
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<a href="https://austinapartments.com/reports/2026-09">
<img src="https://austinapartments.com/reports/2026-09/chart-1.svg"
alt="Median starting rent by building class, September 2026 - AustinApartments.com" style="max-width:100%" />
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<p>Chart: <a href="https://austinapartments.com/reports/2026-09">AustinApartments.com Austin Rent Report</a></p>Move-in specials from our daily pricing data.
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<a href="https://austinapartments.com/reports/2026-09">
<img src="https://austinapartments.com/reports/2026-09/chart-2.svg"
alt="Share of communities running a special, by area - AustinApartments.com" style="max-width:100%" />
</a>
<p>Chart: <a href="https://austinapartments.com/reports/2026-09">AustinApartments.com Austin Rent Report</a></p>Methodology
Our pricing and move-in specials come from three places, updated daily: data we buy from data providers, our own collection from community websites, and our team's research. Statistics cover the 1,259 communities in our full directory with a currently displayable starting rent, including the 55+ and fully income-restricted communities our general search leaves out. Class ratings follow standard industry class conventions. Every figure is computed from the prices and specials we recorded, and none of it is backfilled. Tracking began August 2026.
Full sourcing for every dataset on this site: how we get our data.