Rents May Be Softening Across the Twin Cities

Every month, HousingLink publishes rental housing briefs for Minneapolis and St. Paul pulling from its Rental Revue and Market Rent Data sets. In their June report, two-bedroom rents fell 6–7% year over year in both cities. Three-bedroom rents held flat in Minneapolis and ticked up in St. Paul.

Minneapolis median rent for a one-bedroom sat at $1,111 in June 2026, down 4% from $1,155 a year earlier. A tenant needs to show $2,778 a month in income to qualify at the standard 2.5x screening threshold. Two-bedroom median rent fell further, down 6% year over year to $1,495 from $1,595, requiring $3,738 a month in income. Three-bedroom rent held exactly flat at $1,900, requiring $4,750 a month in income to qualify.

Apartment buildings still absorb the majority of Minneapolis’s vacancy pool at 71%. That’s down from 76% a year ago. Single-family homes picked up a bit of these, at 10% versus 8%  vacancy in 2025. The “Other” category, which includes duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, grew from 16% to 19% year-over-year. In other words, small multifamily has a bit more of the vacancy market than a year ago, even though overall vacancy citywide sits around 5%.

Minneapolis had 117,718 licensed rental units as of Q2 2026, up 3% from a year earlier. Of that, 23,267 units sit within 1- and 2-unit (single-family and duplex) licenses. That’s up just 1% year-over-year. Short-term rental stock came in at 1,600 units, unchanged from a year ago, with 1,400+ of those listed as entire-home rentals on Airbnb.

In June, St. Paul’s median one-bedroom rent was $1,095, down 9% from $1,200 a year earlier and requiring $2,738 in monthly income to qualify. The median two-bedroom rent fell 7% year over year, from $1,510 to $1,400, requiring $3,500 in monthly income. Three-bedroom rent rose 2%, from $1,962 to $2,000, requiring $5,000 in monthly income to qualify.

Like Minneapolis, apartment buildings dominate St. Paul’s vacancies at 80%, down from 84% a year ago. Single-family homes hold 6% of vacancies, up from 4% in 2025. And the “Other” category; condos, duplexes, and townhouses grew from 12% to 14% year-over-year.

Both cities show the same shape: broad softening in one- and two-bedroom rents, flat-to-slightly-up three-bedroom rents, and a growing (if still small) share of vacancy activity happening outside traditional apartment buildings.

This means it’s important not to assume flat or rising comps on one- and two-bedroom units. Both cities showed real year-over-year declines, and Minneapolis rent is unchanged for three-bedrooms while St. Paul’s actually climbed.

Small multifamily’s share of vacancy is inching up in both cities, which isn’t a supply glut so much as a modestly bigger slice of a still-tight overall pool. Minneapolis’s duplex/fourplex license base grew just 1% year over year, so this segment isn’t adding meaningful new supply. And short-term rental stock in Minneapolis is flat year over year at 1,600 units, with 1,400+ entire-home Airbnb listings. This matters if you’re weighing a mid-term or short-term strategy.