The market for renting an apartment in New Jersey’s northern region has become more competitive again after showing some signs of slowing in 2025, according to a recent study.
RentCafe recently compiled data tracking the hottest rental markets across the country. The company analyzed Yardi data across 139 of the largest U.S. markets to draw their conclusions, which included how many renters competed for each available apartment, how many renters decided to stay put, how long it took for an apartment to get filled, the share of apartments that were occupied, and the share of apartments that were new construction.
At the start of 2026, North Jersey ranks #11 among the most competitive rental markets in the country. The ranking is actually down from #3 a year ago, but higher than late last year, when the Northern New Jersey rental market cooled to 19th in the country.
New supply in North Jersey more than quadrupled year-over-year, rising from 0.14% to 0.56% and giving renters more options than they’ve had. Even so, 73% of renters chose to stay put, which kept the region’s occupancy firm at 94.7% — well above the national average of 92.7%.
Some of the numbers in RentCafe’s study are even worse in Central Jersey, where 81% of renters reportedly chose not to move. That number is the biggest share of renters staying put in the nation.
Central Jersey created significantly fewer new housing units, according to the study. There was just a 0.13% growth in available rental units, with the occupancy holding firm at 94.9%.
Elsewhere in the study, taking the region into account, Manhattan shifted gears after closing 2025 to become among the nation’s hottest rental spots. It’s now 24th nationwide with slightly fewer applicants per unit. Other notable entries in the tri-state area included the Bridgeport-New Haven region of Connecticut, which ranked 20th in RentCafe’s study.
Nationwide, Miami led the way in competitive rental markets. Chicago surged to the #2 spot, with the suburbs around the Windy City nabbing the third position.
The suburban areas around metro Minneapolis came in fourth, while the Silicon Valley region of California turned things around and rounded out the top five most competitive markets in the new year.
Overall, RentCafe’s study concluded that the Rental Competitiveness Index (RCI) of 75.4 for the U.S. rental market overall indicated a still competitive market, albeit slightly cooler than one year ago.
