Two of the nation's largest states have seen the largest rent growth over the last year.
Three major metros in California, and three in Texas, dominate the rankings of the Top 10 rent growth markets so far this year, according to Carrollton, Texas-based MPF Research.
San Francisco tops the list of the 50 largest metropolitan areas with rent growth at 7.8 percent in the first half of 2013, while its neighbor across the bay, Oakland, comes in second with 6.9 percent.
San Francisco also posted the nation's largest rent growth for all of 2012 with 8 percent.
The Las Vegas market fell to the bottom of the pack right behind New York City. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Nevada having an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent in July, the highest in the nation.
However, coming in with 0.2 percent rent growth is a step in the right direction for the struggling city, since the Las Vegas market saw negative rent growth overall last year.
Some industry professionals are watching markets like Washington, D.C. for signals of overbuilding as the area's rent growth decelerated to less than 1 percent.
Check out how the rest of the largest 50 areas stacked up.
Top 10
San Francisco 7.8%
Oakland 6.9%
Denver-Boulder 6.1%
Seattle-Tacoma 6.0%
San Jose 5.0%
Portland 4.4%
Houston 4.3%
Austin 4.1%
West Palm Beach 4.0%
Fort Worth 3.6%
Bottom 10
Las Vegas 0.2%
New York 0.3%
Hartford 0.7%
Washington, DC 0.8%
Memphis 0.9%
Sacramento 0.9%
Cleveland 1.2%
Virginia Beach 1.3%
St. Louis 1.4%
Fort Lauderdale 1.5%
Lindsay Machak is an associate editor for Multifamily Executive. Connect with her on Twitter @LMachak.
