Metro Denver Areas With the Highest Rents Now

Signs seemed to be improving toward the end of 2021: From November to December, Denver rent dropped by 1.1 percent, more than double the 0.4 percent slide from October to November. But the pace slowed in January, when Denver’s median rent went down by only 0.2 percent, and since then, there have been five consecutive increases: 0.3 percent in February, 0.6 percent in March, 1.0 percent in April, 1.2 percent in May, and 1.5 percent in June.

Denver’s rent hike of 11.5 percent since this time in 2021 is actually lower than the state average of 12.5 percent and the national average of 14.1 percent. Moreover, the rate of Denver’s annual increase was surpassed by all but one of the thirteen metro towns and suburbs put under Apartment List’s microscope. Castle Rock’s annual rent rose by 10.1 percent, while bumps for the twelve others range from 11.6 percent for Broomfield to 16.2 percent in Arvada.

Thornton saw the smallest month-over-month hike — 1.1 percent from May to June — and jumps in Golden (1.2 percent), Littleton and Englewood (both at 1.4 percent) were also smaller than Denver’s. But the other nine communities saw bigger spikes, from 1.7 percent in Aurora and Broomfield to a gulp-inducing 3.1 percent in Castle Rock.

In June, median rents for two-bedroom units landed at $1,760 in Denver, compared to $1,790 for Englewood, $1,820 for Golden, $1,920 for Thornton, $1,970 for Littleton, $2,040 for Castle Rock, $2,060 for Westminster, $2,140 for Broomfield, $2,220 for Parker and $2,320 for Lone Tree.

Here’s the complete rundown:

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Not on this roster is Boulder, the subject of its own Apartment List rent report — and that area actually shows an improvement.

Median Boulder rent spiked 1.1 percent in April, the same increase as in March, but in May, it dipped by 0.3 percent, and June more than tripled that decline, tumbling by 1.0 percent.

Apartments in Boulder don’t qualify as a bargain; the median for one-bedrooms is $1,520 (down from $1,537), while two-bedrooms stand at $1,937 (previously $1,960). But in the current market, this drop still qualifies as good news.