Executive Summary
- The Q4 2024 Apartment Labor Market Dynamics report analyzes apartment job postings data, labor market demand and supply trends and year-over-year changes in advertised salaries at both national and market levels, along with evolving demand for skills in the multifamily housing industry.
- Job Postings Trends: According to Lightcast statistics, total multifamily housing industry job postings reached 42,268, by the end of Q4, reflecting a 1.5% year-over-year decline. Among all job categories, maintenance roles (technicians and supervisors) were the only ones that saw year-over-year increases in job postings. In contrast, corporate, operational and sales-related roles experienced declines, reflecting broader labor market trends as well as industry shifts driven by centralization and evolving job functions.
- Salary Trends: Despite fewer job postings, national advertised salaries increased year-over-year across all major job categories, with maintenance technician roles rising by 4.6%, property managers by 1.8%, leasing professionals by 2.6% and maintenance supervisors by 3.4%.
- Employer Activity: The number of actively recruiting employers dropped 3.1% year-over-year.
- Top Markets and Skills: Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Denver and Washington, D.C., metro areas ranked highest for apartment job demand in Q4. The most sought-after skills were customer service, initiative and leadership, and communication skills, highlighting the industry’s continued emphasis on resident relations, leadership qualities and effective communication.
- In Q4 2024, national salary trends saw overall growth across all major job categories. However, regional differences varied significantly.
- Property managers experienced marginal national growth of 1.8%, but advertised salaries declined sharply in Washington, D.C. (12.4%), Atlanta (10%) and Denver (7%), while remaining flat in Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles. A key factor behind these salary reductions in those metro areas was the year-over-year decline in job postings, indicating less competition for talent.
- Maintenance supervisors’ advertised salary showed solid national growth (+3.4%), with Washington, D.C. (+13.2%) and Los Angeles (+7.7%) outperforming the national median, while Denver (-0.8%), Atlanta (-1.6%) and New York (-2.0%) saw slight declines.
- Overall, Washington, D.C., and New York experienced the highest volatility across roles, while maintenance-related positions exhibited stronger salary growth compared to leasing and management roles.
In Q4 2024, the top-ranking skills in the multifamily housing industry across major job categories remained unchanged from Q3. Customer service, initiative and leadership, and communication remained the top three, reinforcing that employers continue to prioritize customer-centric individuals and traits that enhance the resident experience.
Reference & Glossary
Sources: NAA Research; Lightcast; Q4 2024 Job Statistics
Note: Top company lists from Yardi, specifically companies with 5,000 or more units, were used to capture data for the multifamily housing industry.
*Unique Job Postings is the number of deduplicated job vacancy advertisements scraped from over 45,000 websites.
