Part of a series
Why a Rental Sits EmptyA hub article and four follow-ups for owners who manage their own rentals. Each follow-up covers one step of the hub's checklist.
A property rents for what other properties like it rent for right now: same city, same bedroom count, same kind of property. Market headlines are background. Last year rents rose in three of the five cities below and fell in the other two.
RentCafe’s current apartment rent averages, by bedroom count (data as of August 31, 2026; Windsor as of September 15, 2026):
| City | 1 bedroom | 2 bedrooms | 3 bedrooms | All rentals | Change from a year ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arvada | $1,637 | $1,920 | $2,530 | $1,847 | up 0.2% |
| Westminster | $1,636 | $2,062 | $2,638 | $1,854 | down 1.3% |
| Broomfield | $1,740 | $2,182 | $2,906 | $1,995 | down 1.1% |
| Fort Collins | $1,702 | $1,968 | $2,515 | $2,054 | up 0.8% |
| Windsor | $1,673 | $1,903 | not published | $1,832 | up 3.5% |
Take a three-bedroom. Broomfield’s average runs about $270 above Westminster’s and about $375 above Arvada’s, though Westminster borders both. Fort Collins, an hour north, is within $15 of Arvada. A general sense of “the market” hides all of that.
The ranking changes with bedroom count, too. Fort Collins has the highest average over all rentals, but not the highest for any single bedroom count.
Check this: Find your city and bedroom count on RentCafe or Apartments.com. Also, enter your address in Rentometer for a range built from rentals near you. Use these two sources as a starting point for the comparisons below, not as your answer.
A horse property near Brighton is the clearest example we’ve seen. The first comparisons pulled for it were ordinary single-family rentals nearby, renting for about $3,000 a month. A house on acreage with horse facilities competes with other horse properties, and those were renting closer to $4,500. Priced from the first set, the owner would have asked about $1,500 a month too little and never known.
Smaller differences work the same way: a fenced yard, a remodeled kitchen, a house near campus instead of across town. City averages blend them all together.
Check this: Make sure each comparison matches your property’s type and its one or two most valuable features, not just its city and bedroom count.
The long view is uneven too. From 2010 to 2024, Census median gross rent rose 126% in Westminster, 105% in Arvada and 91% in Fort Collins. This measure includes utilities and covers rent already being paid under existing leases, so it lags current listings.
Check this: Use long-run figures like these for direction. Today’s listings set the price.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) publishes a Fair Market Rent each year to set housing-voucher payment standards. For FY2026, the Denver-Aurora-Centennial area, ten counties combined into one figure, is $1,754 for a one-bedroom, $2,089 for a two-bedroom and $2,734 for a three-bedroom.
Against the table above, that single figure misses in both directions. It’s higher than the actual averages in Arvada and Westminster for every bedroom count, while Broomfield’s two- and three-bedroom averages run above it, by about $90 and $170. An owner pricing from HUD’s number would ask too much in two neighboring cities and, for two- and three-bedroom units, too little in the third.
Fort Collins and Windsor sit outside this HUD area altogether: Fort Collins is in the Fort Collins-Loveland area, and Windsor, which straddles Larimer and Weld counties, is split between that area and Greeley’s.
Check this: Treat HUD’s Fair Market Rent as background only, never as your asking rent.
Work through these sources in order:
Check this: If your asking rent is more than a few percent from the middle of your current comparisons, name the feature that justifies the difference. If you can’t, the rent is probably off.
A well-chosen comparison does most of the work in pricing a rental. When it matches your property’s type and features, the asking rent becomes a decision you can explain, and you’ll know what to reconsider if the listing draws no interest.
Wondering what your rental could rent for? We’ll send you a rental analysis for your property. Call or text 720-964-1151. Download this article as a PDF.
This article is general information for rental owners and residents in Colorado, not legal advice. Laws and local rules change; check the "Reviewed" date above and confirm current requirements with an attorney before acting. Urban Forest Property Management LLC · Colorado real estate brokerage · License EC.100111715.
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