See Austin’s population surge spike rents

​AUSTIN – Rent in Austin increased about 2.6 percent between 2013 and 2014, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

But that tells just part of the story. Rent did not rise uniformly across the region; in some places it skyrocketed, and in other areas —surprisingly perhaps—it fell.

In an effort to eliminate the visual noise that would come by showing all of Austin’s Census tracts—even those with very few rental units—this map only shows the changes in the 75 percent of tracts where rental units make up at least 20 percent of the housing mix.

Median gross rent increased fastest in an East Austin tract. 

Bound by Airport Blvd. to the east, Lyons Rd. to the south, Webberville Rd. to the west and Oak Springs Dr. to the north, this tract saw median gross rent increase by 26 percent, from $623 per month to $783.

Median gross rent decreased the most in a tract that wraps around Lockhart’s eastern outskirts: from $1,042 to $699—a decrease of about 33 percent.

Broadly speaking, median gross rent increased fastest in the tracts adding the most residents. In the 25 fastest-growing tracts, where population grew on average by 4 percent, median gross rent grew on average by 10 percent. 

The bottom 25 percent of tracts actually saw median gross rent decrease by 9 percent.