Why More Arlington Millennials Apply for Rentals in North Texas

It’s not easy being a Millennial. Born between 1981 and 1996, this generation seems like it’s blamed for everything and it doesn’t help that people of my generation (Boomers) have told them they’re entitled, lazy, and criticize them for living at home longer.

But Millennials, who make good money and are looking to purchase their first home, are being priced out of the highly-competitive housing market. In a recent RENTCafé analysis of 5.9 million rental applications from 2017 to 2021, the share of Millennial renters with individual incomes above $50,000 is at a five-year high — 43 percent nationwide.

Locally, the trend is more than evident. In Arlington, the percentage of housing rental applications by high-income Millennials jumped by 61 percent. That’s the seventh-highest surge in the country by Millennial applicants who earn more than $50,000. McKinney was right behind with a 51 percent rise of Millennial applicants earning more than $50K. Denton had a 39 percent increase, Garland 28 percent, Lewisville 22 percent, and Frisco 20 percent.

This year’s rental applicants are making 10 percent more than those who moved last year, the equivalent of $4,300 more in annual wages. Locally, Arlington applicants earn a median wage of $57,500, while last year’s applicants earned $42K. Small cities made up 43 of the 50 cities with the highest increases in rental applications among Millennials who make more than $50,000.

For its analysis, RENTCafé, an apartment search website, used rental application data sourced from RentGrow and was received wholly anonymized and aggregated.

According to RENTCafé, Millennial renters find themselves somewhere between forced circumstances and lifestyle choices, making affordable small cities good scouting grounds for when they do eventually end up buying a home.

“Previous generations put an emphasis on homeownership as a marker of achievement for an adult,” says Noah Echols, Carroll Organization VP of marketing. “Lifestyle renting has been normalized by Millennials, removing the pressure to purchase a home in order to feel successful.”

That’s likely why D/FW cities fared so well in the analysis. Arlington is categorized as a midsize city (populations of 300K to 600K), but McKinney, Denton, Garland, Lewisville, Frisco, Plano, Richardson, and Irving are regarded as small cities (populations of 300K or fewer).

Arlington rent is affordable. According to Zumper’s November National Rent Report, Arlington ranks 69th nationally in rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $990.

But rent is seeing price increases in other locations. Zumper’s rent report shows Dallas as the 32nd-most-expensive rental market nationally, up 15.2 percent from this time a year ago. RENTCafé’s data shows Dallas as having an 8 percent increase in Millennial rental applicants.

Besides soaring home prices, RENTCafé says experts believe that rising inflation and interest rates make it increasingly difficult to save money for a down payment.