Telephone Rent Surveys

In 2001, HUD conducted Random Digit Dialing (RDD) telephone surveys of 33 Fair Market Rent (FMR) areas. The purpose was to estimate the FMR, which is the rent standard used in its Section 8 Certificate and Voucher assistance programs. The table below lists the survey date and the interquartile range (25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile) of two-bedroom gross rents (including utilities) for all renters from all of the RDD surveys conducted by HUD’s contractor. The 33 RDD surveys covered a total of 36 FMR areas because some surveys included several nonmetropolitan county FMR areas. These surveys exclude units less than 2 years old, public housing units, seasonal units, and units owned by relatives; assisted units are included if the respondent knows the nonsubsidized rent.

2001 Area Rent Surveys: HUD-Sponsored Random Digit Dialing Surveys

State	FMR Area	Date of Survey	Two-Bedroom Gross Rents, All Renters			Cases
			25th Percentile (1st Quartile)	50th Percentile (Median)	75th Percentile (3rd Quartile)
AK	Anchorage AK MSA	7/01	$ 700.00	$ 800.00	$ 914.00	282
AZ	Phoenix-Mesa, AZ MSA	2/01	$ 608.00	$ 710.00	$ 869.00	244
CA	Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, CA PMSA	1/01	$ 774.00	$ 897.00	$ 1,052.00	404
CA	San Francisco, CA PMSA	1/01	$ 1,110.00	$ 1,411.00	$ 1,809.00	360
CA	Stockton-Lodi, CA MSA	1/01	$ 584.00	$ 665.00	$ 765.00	345
CA	San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, CA MSA	1/01	$ 703.00	$ 795.00	$ 919.00	329
CA	Riverside-San Bernardino, CA PMSA	1/01	$ 558.00	$ 658.00	$ 821.00	368
CA	San Diego, CA MSA	2/01	$ 715.00	$ 865.00	$ 1,074.00	351
CA	San Jose, CA PMSA	2/01	$ 1,250.00	$ 1,455.00	$ 1,733.00	324
CT	Hartford, CT MSA	1/01	$ 646.00	$ 737.00	$ 883.00	350
IL	Chicago, IL	2/01	$ 646.00	$ 819.00	$ 988.00	293
IN	Muncie, IN MSA	1/01	$ 468.00	$ 547.00	$ 631.00	275
IN	Knox County, IN	1/01	$ 426.00	$ 468.00	$ 514.00	103
KY	Louisville, KY-IN MSA	1/01	$ 466.00	$ 535.00	$ 631.00	285
LA	New Orleans, LA	8/01	$ 484.00	$ 592.00	$ 727.00	298
MA	Boston MA-NH PMSA	7/01	$ 911.00	$ 1,176.00	$ 1,461.00	323
MD	St. Mary's County, MD	3/01	$ 606.00	$ 744.00	$ 851.00	184
ME	Portland ME MSA	7/01	$ 700.00	$ 796.00	$ 902.00	275
MI	Detroit, MI PMSA	2/01	$ 547.00	$ 685.00	$ 822.00	323
MN	Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN-WI MSA	1/01	$ 700.00	$ 805.00	$ 969.00	282
MO	St. Louis, MO-IL MSA	2/01	$ 483.00	$ 560.00	$ 677.00	298
NC	Cleveland-McDowell-Polk-Rutherford Counties, NC	1/01	$ 405.00	$ 475.00	$ 543.00	178
NC	Jackson County, NC	1/01	$ 452.00	$ 512.00	$ 589.00	104
NC	Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC MSA	1/01	$ 488.00	$ 584.00	$ 678.00	344
NC	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC MSA	8/01	$ 527.00	$ 659.00	$ 791.00	340
NJ	Newark, NJ PMSA	2/01	$ 734.00	$ 850.00	$ 1,031.00	366
NY	Buffalo-Niagara Falls NY PMSA	7/01	$ 508.00	$ 585.00	$ 679.00	371
NY	Syracuse NY MSA	7/01	$ 537.00	$ 610.00	$ 695.00	335
OK	Payne County, OK	1/01	$ 448.00	$ 505.00	$ 585.00	113
PA	Philadelphia, PA-NJ PMSA	2/01	$ 693.00	$ 811.00	$ 963.00	288
TN	Memphis TN-AR-MS MSA	8/01	$ 465.00	$ 589.00	$ 745.00	367
TX	Dallas, TX	2/01	$ 610.00	$ 728.00	$ 849.00	208
WI	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI PMSA	1/01	$ 552.00	$ 641.00	$ 785.00	413

HUD also conducted longitudinal surveys to measure the previous year’s changes in median rents for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan FMR areas in each HUD region. These rent-change factors are used in HUD programs to adjust rents for units currently under contract. The metropolitan surveys exclude metropolitan areas covered by separate Consumer Price Index surveys. The 10 regions surveyed are almost the same as the 9 census divisions, except that the Alaska-Idaho-Oregon-Washington region is treated separately from the rest of the Pacific census division.