Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (RATE, RVR) · Rental vacancy rate, not seasonally adjusted
What share of US rental homes are vacant?
The rental vacancy rate was 7.6% in the quarter ended , up 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier.
Rental vacancy rate, not seasonally adjusted, each quarter
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Rental vacancy rate, change from a year earlier, each quarter (ours)
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Each point is one quarter of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the quarter and the value.
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Inspect and compare dates
The newest quarter beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".
| Measure | Latest | The quarter before | A year earlier | Five years earlier | Ten years earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter | |||||
| Rental vacancy rate | 7.6% | 7.3% | 7.1% | 5.8% | 6.8% |
| Change over a year | +0.5 pts | +0.3 pts | +0.2 pts | −0.6 pts | −0.5 pts |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
Observed .
Right now
The rental vacancy rate was 7.6% in the third quarter of 2026, the highest since the first quarter of 2014.
Over a year it is up 0.5 percentage points (ours).
ChangeOurs
| Period | Then | Change |
|---|---|---|
| One quarter | 7.3%, the rate in | +0.3 percentage points |
| Four quarters | 7.1%, the rate in | +0.5 percentage points |
| Five years | 5.8%, the rate in | +1.8 percentage points |
| Ten years | 6.8%, the rate in | +0.8 percentage points |
In historyOurs
The rental vacancy rate of 7.6% in was higher than in 170 of the 282 other quarters since , the same in 3 and lower in 109.
Highest since : 11.1% in . Lowest since : 5.0% in .
AverageOurs
Average since : 7.27% (ours, a plain mean of the 283 quarters).
ComparedOurs
Over a year the rental vacancy rate is up 0.5 percentage points, which ranks 1 of the 3 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.
The table sets the rental vacancy rate beside the homeownership and vacancy rates, by the change over a year in each one's newest quarter.
Understanding the rental vacancy rate
Where it stands today
The rental vacancy rate was 7.6% in the third quarter of 2026.
What does the rental vacancy rate measure?
The rental vacancy rate is the share of the rental housing inventory that is vacant and for rent. The inventory is the occupied rentals plus the vacant units for rent, and the units rented but not yet occupied. The Census Bureau estimates it each quarter from the Housing Vacancy Survey.
Read more
What 500metrics adds: the change over one quarter, four quarters, five years and ten years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and how the change over a year compares with the other lines of the homeownership and vacancy rates page.
The numbers behind the chart
What was the rental vacancy rate in each quarter?The last ten years, 40 quarters, newest first; the chart and the file have every quarter since 1956 Q1
| Quarter | Value | Change over a year |
|---|---|---|
| 7.6% | +0.5 pts | |
| 7.3% | +0.3 pts | |
| 7.3% | +0.2 pts | |
| 7.2% | +0.3 pts | |
| 7.1% | +0.2 pts | |
| 7.0% | +0.4 pts | |
| 7.1% | +0.5 pts | |
| 6.9% | +0.3 pts | |
| 6.9% | +0.3 pts | |
| 6.6% | +0.3 pts | |
| 6.6% | +0.2 pts | |
| 6.6% | +0.8 pts | |
| 6.6% | +0.6 pts | |
| 6.3% | +0.7 pts | |
| 6.4% | +0.6 pts | |
| 5.8% | +0.2 pts | |
| 6.0% | +0.2 pts | |
| 5.6% | −0.6 pts | |
| 5.8% | −1.0 pts | |
| 5.6% | −0.9 pts | |
| 5.8% | −0.6 pts | |
| 6.2% | +0.5 pts | |
| 6.8% | +0.2 pts | |
| 6.5% | +0.1 pts |
Show 16 more rows
| Quarter | Value | Change over a year |
|---|---|---|
| 6.4% | −0.4 pts | |
| 5.7% | −1.1 pts | |
| 6.6% | −0.4 pts | |
| 6.4% | −0.2 pts | |
| 6.8% | −0.3 pts | |
| 6.8% | 0.0 pts | |
| 7.0% | 0.0 pts | |
| 6.6% | −0.3 pts | |
| 7.1% | −0.4 pts | |
| 6.8% | −0.5 pts | |
| 7.0% | 0.0 pts | |
| 6.9% | 0.0 pts | |
| 7.5% | +0.7 pts | |
| 7.3% | +0.6 pts | |
| 7.0% | 0.0 pts | |
| 6.9% | −0.1 pts |
How does it compare with the homeownership and vacancy rates?Ranked by the change over a year
| Series | Quarter | Value | Change over a year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rental vacancy rate (this page) | 7.6% | +0.5 pts | 1 | |
| Homeownership rate | 65.5% | +0.2 pts | 2 | |
| Homeowner vacancy rate | 1.2% | 0.0 pts | 3 |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- The rates come from the Housing Vacancy Survey, part of the Current Population Survey, a sample of households, so each carries sampling error; the Census Bureau publishes a confidence interval for each rate.
- A quarter is dated by its first month here and by its end in the sentence at the top of the page. The Census Bureau does not adjust these three rates for the season; it publishes a separate seasonally adjusted homeownership rate.
- The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values the Census Bureau publishes; a change is in percentage points.
- This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators. This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau., Rental vacancy rate, not seasonally adjusted, through the third quarter of 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What share of US rental homes are vacant?", https://500metrics.com/homeownership-and-vacancy/rental-vacancy-rate.
Can the data be downloaded?homeownership-and-vacancy-rental-vacancy-rate.csv
Download the full history as CSV: 283 rows, to , 4,680 bytes.
Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.
Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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