NAA Insights: How to Use Data to Explain Rising Costs to Your Residents | Leah Cuffy & Laura Valean

Why It Matters

By revealing the true cost structure of rental housing, the tool equips owners and advocates to counter misinformation, shape rent‑control debates, and maintain affordable, well‑maintained units.

Key Takeaways

• 89% of rent covers essential operating costs, not profit.
• National profit margin averages only 11 cents per rent dollar.
• Tool provides granular data by state, district, and property type.
• Small landlords own 46% of U.S. rentals, often thin margins.
• Data helps owners justify rent hikes amid rising insurance, taxes.

Summary

National Apartment Association’s “Dollar of Rent” tool quantifies how each rent dollar is allocated, offering owners, managers, and policymakers transparent, data‑driven insight into operating costs versus profit. Developed from audited statements of tens of thousands of multifamily properties across 43 states, the interactive platform lets users drill down by geography, property type, size, and age.

The analysis shows that 89 cents of every rent dollar fund essential expenses—utilities, maintenance, taxes, insurance—leaving only 11 cents as net profit. Margins vary dramatically; New Jersey allocates 16 cents to property taxes versus Arizona’s four cents, and insurance costs have doubled since 2021, forcing owners to make tough decisions on maintenance and services.

Leah Cuffy emphasizes that misconceptions persist: the public often believes rent is primarily profit and that landlords can simply absorb rising costs. She notes that 46 % of U.S. rental units are owned by small “mom‑and‑pop” landlords, who operate on the same thin margins as larger firms. The tool’s granular data has already been cited in over 100 active rent‑control bills, enabling advocates to present district‑level cost breakdowns to elected officials.

For property managers, the tool becomes a communication asset, allowing leasing teams to explain rent increases with concrete numbers, thereby building resident trust. For policymakers, it provides credible evidence that blanket rent caps could jeopardize the financial viability of the housing stock, underscoring the need for nuanced, locality‑specific regulation.

Original Description

MHN’s Laura Valean speaks with NAA’s Leah Cuffy about Dollar of Rent, a tool that can help you communicate expenses, margins and market realities with greater transparency and context.

At a time when housing affordability debates are often driven more by perception than data, taking a closer look at what’s actually behind a rent payment matters more than ever. The National Apartment Association’s Dollar of Rent tool provides a clear, data-driven view of the expenses tied to operating a multifamily property, drawing on tens of thousands of audited, property-level financial statements.

In this episode of NAA Insights, host Laura Valean, senior editor at Multi-Housing News, sits down with Leah Cuffy, director of advocacy research at NAA, to explore how the tool can be used in practice. From helping property managers communicate rent increases more clearly to enabling owners and operators to bring localized data into policy discussions, the tool is designed to ground conversations in facts rather than assumptions.

With the ability to drill down by congressional district, metro area and property type, it also challenges a common narrative: Rising rents translate directly into higher profits. In reality, the data shows that roughly 89 cents of every rent dollar goes toward operating costs before any return reaches the owner. That insight alone is reshaping conversations, from legislative hearings to onsite interactions with residents. For leasing teams and property managers, the tool provides a way to explain rising costs with greater clarity and transparency, helping build trust rather than tension.

Here’s what you’ll hear when you press play:

* (1:02) Why the Dollar of Rent tool was created

* (4:00) Addressing misconceptions about where rent dollars go

* (9:13) The mechanics of the tool

* (11:31) How to interpret the results of the tool responsibly

* (13:30) When is the tool most powerful

* (15:50) How to deal with questions about rent increases or rising costs

* (20:31) Changing the tone of conversations with policymakers

* (23:06) How the Dollar of Rent tool will evolve

#multifamily #technology #operations