Dollar of Rent Tool

NAA partnered with STATVAL™ (Multifamily Comps) to produce the 2023 and 2024 Dollar of Rent Tool datasets. STATVAL’s dataset comprises 150,000 standardized operating statements extracted from Agency commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) trustee reports and offering circulars, as well as 45,000 lender-underwritten appraisals. This data is collected directly from trustee reports, appraisal files, and lender submissions, ensuring that it reflects the operational realities of rental housing communities.

The dataset is updated monthly and includes properties of all types—garden-style, mid-rise, high-rise, student, senior, and manufactured housing communities—ranging from small local buildings to large institutional assets. STATVAL employs a comprehensive methodology to process raw CMBS data files, leveraging proprietary software to extract, cleanse, and analyze property-level data. This process includes geo-mapping to U.S. Census tract-level data, creating property-level demographic profiles, and calculating affordability categories.

The 2023 dataset includes operating statements for 20,996 properties, while the 2024 dataset contains 16,353 properties. Of these, 14,558 properties are present in both datasets, ensuring consistency in the analysis.

Introduction

The National Apartment Association (NAA) developed the Dollar of Rent Tool to provide a transparent, data-driven understanding of how rent dollars are allocated within the rental housing industry. This analysis addresses the central question: Where does a dollar of rent go?

Often, rent increases are misinterpreted as excess profits. However, nearly 90% of each rent dollar is consumed by fixed, non-discretionary costs such as mortgage payments, property taxes, operating expenses, payroll and capital expenditure reserves. By standardizing these expenditures into a per-dollar-of-rent format, the Dollar of Rent Tool reframes the conversation, offering stakeholders a reliable and transparent view of the true economics of rental housing.

The Dollar of Rent Tool provides a breakdown of $1 of rent at the national level, across 44 states, the District of Columbia, 286 congressional districts and nearly 100 metro areas. Additionally, the data is categorized by property type, rent type, property size, and property age, based on the availability of data for specific geographies.

Data Source

NAA partnered with STATVAL™ (Multifamily Comps) to produce the 2023 and 2024 Dollar of Rent Tool datasets. STATVAL’s dataset comprises 150,000 standardized operating statements extracted from Agency commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) trustee reports and offering circulars, as well as 45,000 lender-underwritten appraisals. This data is collected directly from trustee reports, appraisal files, and lender submissions, ensuring that it reflects the operational realities of rental housing communities.

The dataset is updated monthly and includes properties of all types—garden-style, mid-rise, high-rise, student, senior, and manufactured housing communities—ranging from small local buildings to large institutional assets. STATVAL employs a comprehensive methodology to process raw CMBS data files, leveraging proprietary software to extract, cleanse, and analyze property-level data. This process includes geo-mapping to U.S. Census tract-level data, creating property-level demographic profiles, and calculating affordability categories.

Defining the Dataset

NAA utilized property-level data from STATVAL to generate metrics for the Dollar of Rent Tool. The 2023 dataset includes operating statements for 20,996 properties, while the 2024 dataset contains 16,353 properties. Of these, 14,558 properties are present in both datasets, ensuring consistency in the analysis.

Each property record in the dataset includes key metrics such as:

• Property Attributes: Year built, number of units, property type, rent type, and location.
• Financial Metrics: Revenue per unit, expenses per unit and net operating income (NOI) per unit.
• Expense Categories: Property and liability insurance, property taxes, utilities, repairs and maintenance, management costs, payroll, marketing, professional fees, general expenses and other expenses.
• Additional Metrics: Capital expenditure reserves per unit, debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), debt payment per unit and net cash flow (NCF) per unit.

The Dollar of Rent Tool calculates how each dollar of rental income is allocated across operating expenses, capital expenditure reserves and mortgage payments. Metrics are further categorized by property characteristics (e.g., property type, rent type, property size, and property age) and geography (e.g., national, state, congressional district and metro levels). Data from all geographies were used to generate Dollar of Rent metrics for states and the nation. However, to ensure representativeness, only geographies with 20 or more properties—both overall and broken down by property type and rent type—are included in the Dollar of Rent Tool.

How the Dollar of Rent Tool is Calculated

All revenue and expense data are standardized on a per-unit basis to allow for fair comparisons between large and small properties. Each expense category is expressed as cents per rent dollar by dividing the expense by the total annual revenue per unit.

For example, if a property generates $5,000 in annual rent revenue per unit and pays $500 in property taxes annually per unit, then 10 cents of every rent dollar is allocated to taxes. The analysis includes the following major categories:

• Property Taxes: Recurring expenses tied to the assessed value of the property.
• Operating Expenses: Includes insurance, utilities, repairs and maintenance, management, marketing, professional services, administration and other expenses.
• Payroll: Wages and benefits for onsite staff.
• Capital Expenditure Reserves: Funds set aside for major repairs and replacements.
• Mortgage Payments: Debt service costs calculated using industry-standard metrics.

The remaining amount after all expenses are accounted for represents the profit per dollar of rent. The sum of all expense categories and profit equals one dollar, ensuring that the rent dollar is fully allocated. 

Mortgage and Debt Service Calculation

The portion of rent allocated to mortgage payments, or debt service, is calculated using the same standards applied by lenders during loan underwriting. This calculation relies on two key financial indicators: Net Cash Flow (NCF) and the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR). A DSCR of 1.25 is typically used, meaning the property must generate 25% more income than the debt payment to remain financially stable.

In 2025, NAA updated this calculation to align with current underwriting standards, improving the accuracy of how mortgage costs are represented. This update ensures that the methodology reflects current market conditions.

Affordable and Market-Rate Housing

The dataset includes both affordable and market-rate properties to reflect the full spectrum of the rental housing market. Affordable properties are subject to income and rent restrictions under programs such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, and HUD-insured loans. These properties serve households earning between 30% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and may receive federal or state subsidies.

Market-rate properties, by contrast, operate without rent caps, rent stabilization or income restrictions. Their rents are determined by market demand, amenities, and competition.

Geocoding and Congressional District Reporting

To publish Dollar of Rent results by Congressional District, NAA links each property record to a precise geographic location and then assigns that location to the correct Congressional District boundary. This allows the Tool to report district-level averages in the same “cents-per-dollar-of-rent” format used throughout the methodology.   

Preparing Property Addresses for Geocoding

NAA begins with the property-level dataset and creates a standardized address file designed specifically for geocoding. Each record includes:

• A unique property ID (used to track and merge results back into the master dataset)
• Street address
• City
• State
• ZIP code

Standardizing these fields improves match rates and ensures results can be reliably tied back to the correct property record.

Converting Addresses into Geographic Coordinates (Latitude/Longitude)

NAA uses the U.S. Census Bureau’s public batch geocoding service to convert each standardized address into a geographic point (latitude/longitude). The geocoding output includes:

• Match status (whether the address was successfully located)
• Matched/standardized address (how the service interpreted the input)
• Coordinates (latitude and longitude)

Quality Control and Handling Unmatched Addresses

Not all addresses can be matched automatically (for example, if an address is incomplete or formatted inconsistently). To ensure auditability, NAA flags each record with a clear status indicator, such as:

• Matched (usable coordinates returned)
• Failed (no reliable match)

For properties that fail the initial match, NAA runs a secondary geocoding step using an additional publicly available geocoding service to recover missing coordinates when possible. Records that remain unmatched after this step are retained in the dataset but excluded from any analysis that requires geographic assignment.

Assigning Properties to Congressional Districts

After geocoding, NAA assigns each property with valid coordinates to a Congressional District using official district boundary files. 

1. Each property is represented as a point on the map (latitude/longitude).

2. Congressional Districts are represented as mapped boundaries.

3. The property is assigned to the district whose boundary contains that point.

Producing Congressional District “Dollar of Rent” Results

Once properties are assigned to districts, NAA calculates district-level summary statistics consistent with the core Dollar of Rent framework:

• Revenue and expense values are standardized on a per-unit basis. 
• Each cost category is converted into cents per dollar of rent by dividing the category amount by total annual revenue per unit. 
• District results also include averages for key expense categories and total profit per rent dollar.

Minimum Sample Threshold

To ensure the Dollar of Rent Tool presents stable and representative results, NAA applies the same minimum sample-size principle used elsewhere in the methodology. Only geographies with sufficient underlying observations are reported, and a district-level output is created that excludes districts with fewer than 20 properties in the dataset. 

Affordable Housing

Rental housing that is income- or rent-restricted through federal, state, or local programs. Examples include properties financed under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, Project-Based Section 8, or HUD-insured loans. Affordable properties serve households earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with subcategories for 60%, 50%, and 30% AMI thresholds.

Age Group (of Property)

Categorizes communities by the number of years since construction or major renovation:

• Less than 5 years
• 5–9 years
• 10–19 years
• 20 or more years

Expenses (Operating)

The ongoing costs of running an apartment community, including maintenance, utilities, payroll, management, insurance, and taxes.

General Administrative Expenses

Office operations, technology systems, supplies, and administrative support.

LIHTC (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit)

A federal program incentivizing the construction and preservation of affordable rental housing. Properties must meet rent and income restrictions for 15–30 years.

Low-Income Units

Units reserved for households earning up to 80% of AMI, but greater than 30% of AMI.

Management Fees

Payments to property management companies for day-to-day operations such as leasing, maintenance coordination, and compliance reporting.

Profit

The share of rent remaining after all operating expenses, capital expenditure reserves, and mortgage payments.

Market-Rate Housing

Rental housing properties without rent or income restrictions. Rents are determined by market demand, amenities, and competition.

Marketing Expenses

Costs of attracting and retaining residents through advertising, digital listings, and referral programs.

Mid-Rise Property

An apartment building between 4–7 stories.

Mortgage 

A loan secured by real estate in which the property serves as collateral for repayment of the debt. In 2024, NAA refined its method for estimating the mortgage payment share of rent. Using actual DSCR and NCF data yields a more accurate measure of debt payments. This update explains why some states show an apparent increase in “profit” compared to prior versions of the Dollar of Rent. 

Net Cash Flow (NCF)

Income remaining after operating expenses, before paying debt service. Used with DSCR to calculate the mortgage piece of the rent dollar.

Other Operating Expenses

Miscellaneous costs not otherwise categorized, such as security or pest control.

Payroll

Wages and benefits for onsite staff—leasing agents, maintenance technicians, and community managers.

Property Size Category

Defined by the total number of units:

• <100 units
• 100–199 units
• 200–299 units
• 300–399 units
• 400–499 units
• 500+ units

Property Type

Classification based on design and structure, including:

• Garden-Style: 1–3 stories in height, four or more buildings.
• Mid-Rise: 4–14 stories in height, one or more buildings.
• High-Rise: 15 or more stories in height, one or more buildings.
• Manufactured Housing
• Senior Housing: A community in which residents must be over 55 years of age to live.
• Student Housing: Housing targeted towards college/university students, typically rented by the bed and/or paid per semester on or near a college campus.

Repairs and Maintenance

Routine upkeep and minor replacements needed to preserve property and unit conditions and resident satisfaction.

Revenue per Unit

Total annual rent collected per apartment unit. This figure serves as the denominator when converting expenses into cents per dollar of rent.

Section 8

A federal rental assistance program providing vouchers or direct subsidies for eligible low-income households.

Taxes (Property Taxes)

A recurring expense tied to the assessed value of a property. Property taxes are levied by local governments and provide funding for public services such as schools, infrastructure, and safety.

Total Expenses

The combined share of operating expenses, capital expenditure reserves, and mortgage payments.

Utilities

Owner-paid water, sewer, gas, electricity, and waste removal costs.

Use these tables to see the a detailed breakdown of the sample size and how the sample is distributed by property characteristics across every geography. Download the Excel files below for full detail.

• 2023 Dollar of Rent Sample Size Distribution by Congressional District
• 2023 Dollar of Rent Sample Size Distribution by Metro Area
• 2023 Dollar of Rent Sample Size Distribution by State
• 2024 Dollar of Rent Sample Size Distribution by Congressional District
• 2024 Dollar of Rent Sample Size Distribution by Metro Area
• 2024 Dollar of Rent Sample Size Distribution by State