A pronounced slowdown in net immigration (legal and illegal) has slowed population growth, eased housing demand, and made rents more affordable in several markets.
National demographic data show that U.S. population growth slowed substantially between mid-2024 and mid-2025, largely because of a sharp drop in illegal immigration. Net international migration fell from roughly 2.7 million in 2024 to about 1.3 million in 2025 as the border crisis ended and deportations (ICE removals & self-deportations) increased. The change from one summer to the next represented one of the largest single-year declines on record.
Because immigration has been a major source of new household formation in recent years, this shift reduced the pace at which new renters entered the housing market nationwide.
Housing data reflect this change in demand. According to the Apartment List National Rent Report, the national median rent declined for the sixth consecutive month in January 2026, falling 1.4 percent year over year to $1,353–the lowest level since the market peak in 2022.
While rents remain historically high, the sustained downward trend indicates that rental markets are no longer experiencing the intense demand pressures seen when net immigration was averaging 2 million per year. Even modest changes in demand can have noticeable effects when housing supply is tight.
In major metropolitan areas, rent declines have been more noticeable. In Los Angeles, median rents fell to approximately $2,167 in December 2025, a four-year low. Although new apartment construction played a role, declining demand also mattered. Slower population growth and continued out-migration increased vacancy rates, forcing landlords to offer concessions and lower asking rents. With fewer households competing for available units, renters regained negotiating leverage.
Colorado reflects similar dynamics. The state surpassed six million residents in 2025 but did so amid its slowest population growth in decades. Net international migration declined and domestic out-migration increased, reducing the number of prospective renters in markets such as Denver and Boulder and helping to stabilize rents. Taken together, these trends illustrate a simple economic reality: when population growth slows, demand pressures ease, and rents begin to trend lower.
In the U.S. rental housing market, when the number of households (i.e., prospective renters) grows rapidly, competition for limited units intensifies and rents rise. Housing demand is fundamentally tied to population change: more people mean more households, and more households mean greater pressure on available apartments and rental homes.
Over the past several years, rents increased sharply as the number of households grew quickly, driven by elevated levels of net international migration. More recently, however, demographic conditions have shifted. This pattern is consistent with a large body of economic research showing that population increases add to housing demand, while slower household growth allows markets to stabilize.
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