Buying a home doesn’t make sense for everyone, but in several highly sought-after markets, it may be more difficult to rent.

Regions like the Sun Belt have seen a construction boom and, in turn, a drop in prices due to increased inventory, but in coastal cities that has not been the case.

“The United States built more new units in 2024 than in any year in the last half century, but that boom largely bypassed the Northeast and coastal California, which is exactly why rental competition is so intense there,” said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow.

Zillow ranked the hottest rental markets heading into the summer by looking at metro areas where rents rose rapidly, vacancies declined and rental concessions such as fee waivers or a free month of rent were rarely offered.

It should come as no surprise that big cities like New York and San Francisco are typically the most active rental markets in the country; Vacancies are low and rents are rising. However, Zillow found that a northeastern city with a population that’s about 2% of New York City took the cake as the most popular market: Providence, Rhode Island.

“On Zillow’s most popular rental markets, the math is simple: More people want to live there than there are homes to rent; whether it’s access to amenities, strong job markets or family ties, renters are competing for a limited supply,” Ng said.

Providence, Rhode Island, a city with a population of about 195,000, is small and its size influences its ranking. It has recently been labeled as an unaffordable place to buy a home, primarily due to its lack of housing inventory, which, in turn, can drive up rental prices. Providence also has the lowest proportion of grants in the top 10.

Read below to see the 10 most popular markets for renters, according to Zillow.