The Geography of Multifamily’s Growth: Urban vs. Suburban (and Everything in Between)

The past decade has been a whirlwind for the multifamily sector — from the urban renaissance of the early 2010s to the workforce housing push of the late 2010s, and the post-pandemic reshuffling of geographic demand. The only constant has been its continuous evolution.

In this briefing, we explore how multifamily growth has unfolded across the urban spectrum over the past 10 years — and why the space between suburban and urban markets deserves a closer look.

Unpacking the Data

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey defines three types of urbanities within metropolitan areas: central city, non-central city, and a mixed category — the indeterminable “gray area” between urban and suburban. For this analysis, we classify these mixed settings as semi-urban, capturing the transitional neighborhoods that blur the line between city core and suburb.

While high-rise downtown apartments may dominate the image of multifamily housing, central cities account for just one-third (32.4%) of multifamily households. True suburban multifamily, the non-central city group, claims about a quarter (24.2%) of the sector. But the largest share lies in the semi-urban periphery of metro areas, which captures 43.4% of multifamily demand — totaling 8.7 million households, over two million more than any other segment (central city: 6.5 million; suburban: 4.8 million).

Examining how these have evolved over the past decade, the semi-urban portion once again stands out above the rest. Between 2013 and 2023, the number of semi-urban multifamily households rose by 25.5%. Central city multifamily follows closely, rising 23.7%. Trailing behind is the suburban multifamily contingent, which saw its number of households grow by a more modest 15.0%. Even still, the 10-year growth rate of suburban multifamily outpaced total US household growth over the same period (+13.5%).  

Analysis

The dominance of semi-urban multifamily over the past decade is no accident. These areas often offer the best of both worlds — urban amenities, paired with lower land costs and more space compared to the urban core.

As affordability pressures in major cities mounted through the late 2010s, demand spilled into these transitional neighborhoods.

The pandemic then accelerated this trend, as remote work and shifting lifestyle preferences made semi-urban living more appealing for both renters and developers. Altogether, with room for new construction and a cost structure that remains more favorable than dense downtowns, semi-urban multifamily has emerged as one of the sector’s primary growth engines.

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