Every year the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) publishes their Fair Market Rent (FMR) data. HUD uses this data a guidelines to figure out what the standard payments are for their Housing Choice Voucher program, including Section 8 tenants.

These datasets provide a wealth of information for landlords who want to know if their rents are competitive.
Each year they estimate Fair Market Rents across the country and publish their data annually by the start of the fiscal year, which is on October 1st. (So, on October 1st of this year, for example, they publish the FMR data for next year),

The FMRs are estimates of gross rents, which include the rental unit/building plus the cost of all tenant-paid utilities, except telephones, cable or satellite television service, and internet service. So, keep this in mind when you look at the rents you charge. HUD will generally negotiate to pay less if the tenant has to pay the cost of some or all utilities. like gas, electric and water. HUD updates the base year FMRs to “fair market” each year by also using local and regional CPI data for rents and utilities.

You can find their most recent and past years Fair Market Rent data (FMRs) by going here:

Fair Market Rents: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html

They also publish a more zip code specific Fair Market Rent table. This is an even more location specific Fair Market Rent table, and should be of even more value to many landlords across the country.

Small Area Fair Market Rents: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/smallarea/index.html

Although HUD’s Fair Market Rent data is only one tool that rental property owners should use in helping to look at the rents they charge, it is one of the best datasets you’ll find on true market rent values.