US States With The Strictest Statewide Rent Control Policies

Affordability and rent costs proved to be quite the deciding factor in multiple off-year elections in 2025. Even with Berkshire Hathaway predicting market growth in the coming year, housing prices continue to rise. Rent was particularly important in the New York City mayoral election, where Zohran Mamdani won while running on a policy including enacting a rent freeze. This came following a year that Redfin reported a 2.6% rise in median asking rental prices nationwide. With this being said, rental prices and controls are widely regulated at the state and local level, leading to several places in the U.S. where it is actually cheaper to rent than buy.

One way state and local governments attempt to keep rental prices at an affordable rate is by enacting rent control policies. While these policies vary state by state, both Oregon and California have the strictest legislation capping year-by-year rental hikes at 7% and 5%, respectively. Both policies also take into account inflation by referencing the Consumer Price Index, an aggregate calculation of the price of multiple consumer goods and housing prices. Additionally, there is little national regulation specifically enacting rent control, but there are programs through the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development that address housing costs.

In 2019, Oregon passed Senate Bill 608 dictating that statewide rent increases must stay under 7% plus inflation of the current rental cost. In Oregon's case, inflation is calculated by state economists. These rental controls are based on original rental prices, meaning more expensive units may experience monetary increases. Notably, the bill makes an exception for subsidized housing and buildings constructed outside of the last 15 years. In 2020, California passed Assembly Bill 1482, putting into place statewide 5% rent control plus inflation. The inflation adjustment for California is calculated by the national Consumer Price Index. California's controls, while not as steep as the statewide policy in Oregon, include a clause allowing for higher controls at the local level.

While currently dictated at the state level, the first rent control policies came via the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942. The federal policy capped rental prices during World War II to battle an ongoing housing crisis. Currently, the national policy only involves subsidies via the Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8 housing. Assistance is distributed to local governments and later to landlords to support the rent for families making less than 50% of their local average income. This program comes down to local governance since the responsibility for distributing funds and determining eligibility lies at the local level. These local offices manage what happens when low-income people can't make rent.