Cities / Maryland / Howard County / Ellicott City
RentMarker city housing analysis
City housing brief · Census-designated place

Ellicott City, MD

City evidence stays city-level. County, metro and national records appear separately to explain the wider market without changing the city figures.

City gross yield4.1%ZORI × 12 ÷ ZHVI · before costs
Direct city rent answer

What does rent cost in Ellicott City, MD?

The latest city-level Zillow ZORI for Ellicott City is $2,552 per month in 2026-06. It measures a typical asking-rent market across rental types—not an arithmetic average or an address-level rent estimate.

City Zillow ZORI$2,5522026-06 · up 3.7% year over year
City ACS gross rent$2,061ACS 2024 5-year occupied-renter survey
HUD two-bedroom context$1,857Howard County administrative standard
How to read the rent answer for Ellicott City
MeasureCurrent valueGeographyMeasurement boundary
Zillow ZORI$2,552Ellicott City cityTypical observed asking-rent index; not a unit quote.
Census ACS gross rent$2,061Ellicott City citySurvey estimate for occupied renter homes, including specified utilities.
HUD 2BR FMR$1,857Howard CountyAdministrative bedroom standard; wider context, never substituted as city rent.

For a property decision, match bedroom count, condition, utilities, concessions, lease timing and nearby comparable listings. Wider county and metro evidence below stays explicitly labelled.Zillow pulled 2026-07-29

City market snapshot

Four figures that frame the city

Typical home value
$748k
▼ 0.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · 2026-06
Observed market rent
$2,552
▲ 3.7% year over year
Zillow ZORI · 2026-06
Entry affordability
4.8x
home value ÷ household income
Zillow + Census ACS
Population
75,257
▲ 3.6% between ACS vintages
ACS 2024 5-year
Current measured evidence

Use the source-dated charts while the narrative is refreshed

The city facts below remain available because they are generated directly from the current public records. The written interpretation will return only after it matches the same evidence set.

Housing system

Market movement and the stock underneath it

Five-year path

Price and rent, rebased to 100

ZHVI +17.6%ZORI +26.1%
12611195202120222023202420252026
Each series starts at 100 so their direction can be compared without pretending that a home value and a monthly rent share the same unit.
Housing stock

Tenure and vacancy

ACS
28.0%RENTER
Owner occupied72.0%
Renter occupied28.0%
Vacant units2.6%

Median structure year 1992

Tenure uses occupied units; vacancy uses all housing units.
Measurement matrix

Two sources, two different questions

SourceHome valueMonthly rent
Zillow market index$748.2K$2.6K
ACS occupied housing$661.7K$2.1K
Zillow measures current market indexes. ACS reports surveyed owner value and gross rent for occupied housing. The rows are context, not interchangeable estimates.
Direct local rental evidence

Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Ellicott City, MD

These Apartment List observations match the exact city Census code 2426000. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and wider metro measures.

Direct recent-lease rent history

Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.

$2,258$2,086$1,9142021-082026-07
Recent-lease rent$2,2462026-07 · -0.2% year over year
Rental vacancyn/an/a
Time on marketn/an/a
Direct city depth

Households and housing form behind the medians

Median household income$157k

Annual ACS household measure.

Rent-to-income screen19.5%

Annual ZORI divided by ACS median income.

ACS rent burden53.5%

Renters paying at least 30% of household income toward gross rent.

Average household size2.77

People per occupied housing unit.

Single-family stock72.9%

Detached and attached one-unit structures.

Large multifamily stock8.7%

Housing in structures with 20 or more units.

Vacant and for rent42.7%

Share of vacant units listed by ACS as for rent, not a market vacancy rate.

Unemployment3.0%

Share of the civilian labor force.

Poverty3.7%

ACS population for whom poverty status is determined.

These are citywide context measures. They cannot tell you the rent, vacancy, expenses or tenant demand for a particular neighborhood or property.
Closest market alternatives

Three useful contrasts, not a synthetic winner

The peer set broadens the decision without mixing geographies. Price, rent and housing characteristics remain city-level for every place.

Comparable market profile

Entry price, rent and gross yield

Ellicott City, MDAnnapolis, MDSilver Spring, MDCastle Rock, CO
Typical home valueZillow ZHVIEllicott City$748.2KAnnapolis$633.3KSilver Spring$556.5KCastle Rock$672.7KObserved market rentZillow ZORI / monthEllicott City$2.6KAnnapolis$2.4KSilver Spring$2KCastle Rock$2.5KGross yieldZORI × 12 ÷ ZHVIEllicott City4.1%Annapolis4.5%Silver Spring4.2%Castle Rock4.4%
Bars begin at zero within each measure. Gross yield is a screening ratio before financing, taxes, insurance, vacancy, maintenance or management costs.
Same metro01

Annapolis, MD

Compared with Ellicott City, typical home value is $115k lower, monthly rent is $154 lower, and gross yield is 0.5 percentage points higher.

Rent burden 30%+
48.9%
Renter share
38.0%
One-unit stock
65.6%
20+ unit stock
11.0%
Same state02

Silver Spring, MD

Compared with Ellicott City, typical home value is $192k lower, monthly rent is $586 lower, and gross yield is 0.1 percentage points higher.

Rent burden 30%+
52.6%
Renter share
61.7%
One-unit stock
34.9%
20+ unit stock
43.6%
Closest data profile03

Castle Rock, CO

Compared with Ellicott City, typical home value is $75k lower, monthly rent is $58 lower, and gross yield is 0.4 percentage points higher.

Rent burden 30%+
62.5%
Renter share
21.2%
One-unit stock
81.5%
20+ unit stock
7.8%

These are analytical alternatives, not recommendations. The structural measures come from Census ACS; price and rent use the Zillow releases shown on each card and in the source ledger below.

Wider market context

What surrounds the city without being mistaken for it

The layers below answer different questions. County records describe listing, migration, financing and hazard conditions around the city; metro records describe jobs, supply and permits; the mortgage rate is national.

Same measure, wider boundary

City marker against intersecting counties

CityCounty range
Typical home value$643.8K$643.8K$748.2KObserved market rent$2.4K$2.4K$2.6K
Both levels use Zillow indexes, but the county records cover land and housing outside the city. The comparison supplies context; it does not replace the city value.
Same Zillow index families

City limits versus the linked metro

Ellicott CityMetro
Observed market rentMetro $1.9KCity $2.6K · +31.8%Typical home valueMetro $407.6KCity $748.2K · +83.5%Gross yieldMetro 5.7%City 4.1% · -28.2%
Zillow ZORI and ZHVI use the same release month at both boundaries. Gross yield is rent × 12 ÷ home value; the metro contains the city and is context, not a substitute.

Search all direct city–metro gaps in the interactive atlas.

COUNTY LAYER

The intersecting county

This boundary extends beyond the city and is shown only as context.

2026-06
Active listings
528
Listing DOM
21 days
FHFA one-year
▲ 2.0%
Net migration
-1,161
Investor share
5.0%
Effective property tax
1.17%
Top hazard
inland flooding
Expected loss ratio
0.05%
METRO LAYER

Baltimore, MD

Open metro analysis →
Job growth▼ 1.2%12m to 2026-06
Permitted units5,5162026 YTD through M06
Permits / 1,0001.9broader metro population
Months of supply2.62026-05-01
Median DOM28 daysRedfin metro tracker
Price drops30.9%Redfin metro tracker
Wider-context figures are not inputs to the city gross yield and are never used to fill a missing city price, rent or ACS measure.
Sources and geography

What belongs to this city page

Census recognizes this as Ellicott City CDP. The place intersects Howard County.