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If you have never opened the HUD FMR file, you are underwriting against worse data than a federal housing analyst. It is free, audited, and covers every U.S. county.
By RentalAnalytics Editorial Team · Last updated June 6, 2026
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes Fair Market Rents annually under 42 USC 1437f. FMRs estimate the 40th-percentile gross rent for standard-quality units in each metro area and nonmetropolitan county. HUD uses them to set payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program, to set rent ceilings for HOME Investment Partnerships and Emergency Solutions Grants, and to set flat rents in public housing units.[1]
The reason they matter to private landlords is the same reason they matter to the federal government: they represent a defensible, government-audited estimate of what a typical unit in a given market actually rents for at the middle of the distribution. No marketing incentive inflates them. No listing platform has an interest in making them look high or low. That neutrality is the dataset's main value.
Four characteristics set FMRs apart from commercial rent indices:
Go to huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Under the current fiscal year section, download the "County Level Data" spreadsheet (Excel or CSV). That file has FMRs for 0- through 4-bedroom units for every U.S. metro and county. The file is large but straightforward to filter by state and county name. HUD also offers an API for programmatic access if you are building a tool or model that pulls FMRs at scale.
For FY2025, the data became effective October 1, 2024. For FY2026, the data became effective October 1, 2025, with a revision effective May 21, 2026 for select areas. Always check the effective date of the file you are using, since FMRs change annually and using the prior year's data in a new fiscal year will understate the current floor.
Each row in the county-level file contains columns for the metro or county name, state, and five FMR values: fmr_0, fmr_1, fmr_2, fmr_3, and fmr_4, representing studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, and 4-bedroom gross rents respectively. A sample row for a large Sun Belt metro might look like:
fmr_0 fmr_1 fmr_2 fmr_3 fmr_4
1620 1740 2120 2790 3270 (example: Austin-Round Rock metro)That $2,120 for a 2-bedroom represents the 40th-percentile gross rent (rent plus utilities) for the metro. It is not the average, not the median, and not the top-of-market. It is the price at which 40% of comparable units rent for less. To use this as an underwriting anchor for a specific deal, you work through four adjustments:
HUD builds FMRs primarily from American Community Survey estimates, which survey housing conditions 12-24 months before publication. A FY2025 FMR effective October 2024 draws on survey data collected in 2022-2023. In a fast-moving market, this lag means the FMR understates current rents during periods of rapid growth and overstates them during corrections.
The BLS CPI Shelter index provides a monthly update that tracks rent changes with much less lag. The index is available at data.bls.gov.[2] Applying the percentage change in CPI Shelter since the FMR's effective date converts the government anchor into a current-market figure with a transparent methodology that a lender or partner can verify.
HUD FMRs are gross rents: they include an estimated utility allowance added to the base rent. Most private listings on Zillow and Apartments.com quote net rent, meaning rent only without utilities. If you compare a $2,120 FMR directly to a $2,000 Apartments.com listing without adding utilities to the listing rent, the FMR looks high and the listing looks cheap. They may actually be at the same market level once utilities are accounted for. Add estimated utility costs to comparable listing rents before comparing them to the FMR.
The RentalAnalytics rent estimator handles all four steps automatically: HUD lookup by ZIP and bedroom count, CPI Shelter aging to present, property-type adjustment, and confidence scoring. You bring the comparable listings; the tool handles the federal data processing. For investors underwriting multiple markets or multiple deals, it eliminates the manual file work entirely.
HUD Fair Market Rents are annual estimates by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of the 40th-percentile gross rent for standard-quality units in every metro area and nonmetropolitan county. HUD uses them to set Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment standards and related federal program rent ceilings.
HUD publishes new FMRs annually, effective October 1 at the start of each federal fiscal year. The data draws primarily on American Community Survey estimates, which lag market conditions by 12-18 months. Apply BLS CPI Shelter growth to age the published figures forward to current conditions.
Go to huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. The County Level Data spreadsheet for the current fiscal year contains FMRs for 0- through 4-bedroom units for every U.S. metro and county. The file is free and in CSV or Excel format.
Yes. HUD FMRs represent gross rent, meaning rent plus an estimated utility allowance. If you are comparing an FMR to a listing that quotes rent only (without utilities), add an estimated utility cost to the listing rent before comparing. Omitting this adjustment makes market rents appear artificially lower than the FMR.
HUD FMRs are a government-audited 40th-percentile estimate covering every U.S. county, updated annually. Zillow and Apartments.com are listing-based market indices with hyperlocal granularity but no disclosed percentile target and no government audit. Each has distinct strengths: FMRs for a conservative, defensible anchor; listing data for current submarket pricing.
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