If you’re worried about how congested San Antonio’s roads are, there may be a silver lining.
Several Texas cities are more attractive to new renters looking for a fresh start, according to the latest hot city rankings from apartment search site RentCafe. The ranking puts El Paso, West Texas, at No. 28 among the 150 largest U.S. cities with rising rental interest in early 2026, surpassing San Antonio at No. 56.
Not only did El Paso soar 115 spots year-over-year in the national rankings, but it also saw the largest increase in rental interest among U.S. cities. RentCafe said the growth was driven by a 279% increase in the number of El Paso’s most popular apartments and a 53% increase in the number of saved searches.
Although San Antonio was defeated by its West Texas rival, it wasn’t all doom and gloom in the Alamo City. Well, maybe for those who don’t want people to move to San Antonio because San Antonio’s roads are already congested and accident-prone. But that’s another story. According to RentCafe’s latest 2026 renter interest rankings, these 210 cities did move up 80 spots from last year, ranking 56th among 150 U.S. cities attracting renters’ attention.
San Antonio saw a 320% increase in saved apartment searches, while the number of the city’s most popular apartments increased 97%, the apartment search site said, indicating renters are starting to search in San Antonio earlier. Another noteworthy finding from RentCafe is that Austin renters are increasingly looking to San Antonio as their next move.
The three Texas cities on the list are located between El Paso and San Antonio, with Dallas at No. 35, Amarillo at No. 46, and Houston at No. 48. San Antonians who love to hate the capital city will be happy to hear that Austin ranked significantly lower than the Alamo City, coming in at No. 114, with 13 percent fewer units both most popular and viewed.
Which city tops the list? Cincinnati, Ohio.
This article was originally published on West Texas city beats San Antonio to move closer to No. 1 in U.S. rankings.