Reston apartment renters are paying slightly more than a year ago, even as rents across Fairfax County dip.

The median one-bedroom rent in Reston hit $2,253 in August, with two-bedroom units at $2,385, according to Apartment List data reported by FFXnow on Tuesday, Sept. 1. That marks a 0.2% year-over-year increase.

Reston bucked the trend.

It was one of only two Fairfax County communities where rents rose. Herndon climbed 0.4%. Every other tracked area fell: Annandale dropped 6.2%, Fair Oaks 4.7%, Fairfax City 2.4%, Centreville 1.9% and Tysons 0.3%.

Countywide, the overall median rent stood at $2,419, down 1% from August 2025. That figure remains well above the $1,971 median recorded in March 2020, before the pandemic.

Reston's changing rental landscape

No source offers a definitive explanation for Reston's divergence from the county trend.

But the community's rental landscape has changed significantly in recent years. High-rise apartment buildings near Wiehle-Reston East Metro and Reston Town Center have added well over 1,000 units, according to The Reston Letter. Properties including Skymark, Signature, The Avant and BLVD Reston Station draw young professionals, federal contractors and technology workers willing to pay $2,200 to $3,800 a month for Metro access.

Affordability pressure persists

A Fairfax County housing needs study released in April found that a household needs at least $100,000 in annual income to afford the county's average market-rate rent of $2,500. About 87% of renters earning $75,000 or less spend more than 30% of their income on rent.

The county lacks an estimated 13,800 rental units affordable to households earning at or below 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), the study found. Tom Fleetwood, director of the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, said in the April report that housing costs, compounded by rising prices for childcare and food, are squeezing household budgets across the county.

National picture

Nationally, the median rent was $1,390 in August, down 0.8% year-over-year. But Apartment List analysts noted signs of stabilization: year-over-year rent declines have narrowed for four straight months after hitting a record low of negative 1.6% in April.

A wave of 600,000 new apartment units hit the national market in 2024, the most since 1986. Construction has since slowed, and the market is beginning to absorb that inventory.

Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy said Tuesday, Sept. 1, that supply remains "the dividing line" between markets tightening and those where renters still have leverage.

Closer to home, the D.C. metro area's median rent was $2,174 in August. Neighboring Arlington's $2,612 median ranked fifth most expensive among 100 urban areas Apartment List tracks, and the priciest outside California.

Apartment List releases updated rent data monthly.