Renter engagement in the Bronx was among the most active out of the 150 biggest cities in the United States in the first quarter of 2026, according to a report by RentCafe.
Based on RentCafe’s Rental Engagement Tracker (REnT), which provides updates on rental demand across the 150 largest cities in the country on a quarterly basis based on the millions of interactions on RentCafe’s site and is determined based on availability of apartments, listing views, apartments saved as favorites and saved personalized searches, the Bronx had the sixth-highest REnT score, at 90.
The number of Bronx listings added to favorites more than doubled from the previous quarter, having gone up 110% from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026. Strong and sustained demand was reflected in the borough by rental inventory being the tightest in the borough. As a result of growing interest and limited rental availability in the Bronx, the borough rose 34 spots from the previous quarterly report, from 40th to 6th. The Bronx had the highest REnT score among all cities in the northeastern United States.
One contributing factor to engagement in the Bronx being pushed higher was renters becoming more drawn to outer boroughs like the Bronx as a more accessible alternative to Manhattan.
Year-over-year, the Bronx had a 59% decrease in availability, a 3% drop in page views, a 111% increase in favorites and a 15% jump in saved searches. Even with the availability going down, the Bronx ranked first in this field among the 150 cities during the first quarter of 2026. The borough ranked 28th in page views, 26th in favorites and 48th in saved searches.
