Did median rent in Providence increase 40% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?

According to Census Data, Providence’s median gross rent increased about 40% from 2020 to 2024. 

The data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey offers two measurements of median gross rent—five-year estimates and one-year estimates. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one-year estimates are not available for 2020. 

For the five year interval from 2015 to 2019, median gross rent was $994. From 2020 to 2024, the median gross rent was $1,408—a 42% increase.

In 2021, the one-year estimate median gross rent in Providence was $1,218. In 2024, it was $1,429—a 17% increase. In 2019, the median gross rent was $1,059, or 35% less than the one-year median rent in 2024.

The gross rent includes the estimated average monthly cost of utilities because some places include utilities within rental payments. Median is the middle value of a data set, which avoids factoring in extreme outliers.