Who Rents in Narberth, and What Are They Paying For?

Narberth has 894 renter-occupied households, roughly 45% of its occupied housing stock.¹ That share is higher than Montgomery County’s 29% and Lower Merion Township’s 26%. The borough is, by the numbers, a renter town inside an owner county. What those renters pay, what kind of housing they occupy, and how the demographic currents running through the region will reshape demand over the next decade, all weigh on the zoning amendments now before Council.

What renters pay

Narberth rents have climbed steeply. Zumper’s August 2026 data puts the average apartment rent at $2,282 a month, up 16% from the prior year.² That figure sits 19% above the national average. A household spending no more than 30% of its income on rent, the standard threshold for affordability, needs to earn roughly $91,000 a year to cover that cost.

The Census Bureau’s five-year estimates, which smooth over annual swings and lag the market, report a median gross rent of $1,823.³ The gap between the Census median and Zumper’s current average reflects both the lag in federal data and the upward skew of new listings relative to leases already in place.

Rent varies sharply by unit size too. Zumper’s June 2026 snapshot put one-bedrooms at $2,000, two-bedrooms at $2,335, and the blended average at $2,442.⁴ RentHop, which tracks asking rents on active listings, placed one-bedrooms at $2,570 and two-bedrooms at $3,390 over the same period.⁵ The gap between those sources reflects the difference between all leases and new listings: a renter signing today, pays more than one who signed two years ago.

Nearly half of Narberth’s renters, 45%, spend more than 30% of their income on rent.³ That figure is worth noting. The borough’s median household income is $124,000, well above the county median of $112,000. Yet rent absorbs a third or more of income for almost half the rental households. Rents are outrunning even high earners.

What they rent

The rental stock in Narberth clusters in small buildings. The largest single category is buildings with five to nine units, which house 206 renter households, about 23% of the rental total. Close behind are three-to-four-unit buildings, with 188 renter households, or 21%. Together, buildings with two to nine units account for 473 renter households, 53% of the borough’s entire rental stock.⁶

The small multifamily buildings that contain most of Narberth’s renters represent the borough’s naturally occurring affordable housing. These properties were not constructed with subsidies or income limits. They remain affordable because they are old, modest, and common. These buildings are also the most vulnerable to by-right redevelopment under the proposed 4a amendments. A developer has a clear incentive to replace a four-unit walk-up with a 20-unit building if the zoning changes allows it by right.⁷

Larger buildings (20 units or more) house 197 renter households, 22% of the rental total. These are the buildings that new construction under the amendments would likely resemble. They charge higher rents and serve a different part of the market.

Why the demand is so strong

Narberth has a vacancy rate of 3.7%.⁸ This number includes all vacant units. Housing economists generally consider vacancy rates below 5 to 6 percent as a sign of a tight rental market. Narberth’s 3.7 percent sits in that range.

Three forces keep demand tight.

School district access. Narberth is located within the Lower Merion School District, which ranks among the top districts in Pennsylvania. The LMSD allocates about $30,000 per student each year. A family that rents a one‐bedroom apartment in Narberth typically pays around $2,200 per month. The identical unit in Upper Darby, situated across the school district boundary, costs roughly $1,100. The $13,200 annual premium buys access to a district that spends $30,000 per student per year. For a family with two children, that is $60,000 in educational spending for a $13,200 rent surcharge.⁹ Thus, for families with school‐age children, renting in Narberth represents a sensible economic choice despite appearing costly when considered alone.

Rail proximity. The Narberth SEPTA station on the Paoli/Thorndale line puts Center City Philadelphia 20 minutes away. For the segment of the rental market that values a short commute without a car, or a short commute with a car parked at home rather than in a city garage, station-adjacent housing commands a premium that persists as long as Septa does.

Constrained supply in a dense borough. Narberth covers half a square mile and already carries a population density of 8,971 people per square mile, second in Montgomery County only to the county seat, Norristown.¹⁰ The borough has roughly 4,154 housing units per square mile. Its lots are small, its streets are narrow, and its residential land is built out. New supply enters slowly because the available land for it is scarce, which keeps the existing stock expensive.

Who lives here

Narberth’s age profile tilts toward working-age adults. The 35-to-54 cohort makes up 32.5% of the population, well above Montgomery County’s 26.2%.¹¹ The 18-to-34 cohort, the age band that rents most heavily nationwide, represents 18.3%, slightly below the county’s 20.1%. Residents aged 65 and older account for 15.5%, lower than the county’s 19.8%.

Household composition tells the other side. Of the borough’s 2,001 occupied households, 862 are nonfamily households, people without a spouse or children at the same address. More than eight in ten of those nonfamily households are a single person living alone. Add them up and 716 Narberth households, more than a third of the total, are one person.¹² Narberth is a place of small households. The average is 2.3 people, below Montgomery County’s 2.5.

Those figures describe the current picture.

Where demographic trends point

Four trends, all visible in existing data and reinforced by national patterns, will shape Narberth’s rental demand over the coming decade.

Residents in the 55-to-64 age group are expected to remain in the community as they reach retirement age. This cohort represents 12.8% of the population in Narberth, or approximately 578 people. As they move past 65, many will stay in place. National data from the Joint Center for Housing Studies shows that homeowners aged 65 and older move at less than half the rate of younger owners. In a borough where homes sell for a median above $700,000, moving means realizing a gain but also finding somewhere else to live in a market that has priced out alternatives. Some of these aging homeowners will convert to renters locally, seeking smaller units without the maintenance burden. That adds demand to a rental market already stretched thin, and it adds demand for a specific product: ground-floor or elevator-served one-bedroom or two-bedroom units in walkable locations.

Younger adults are experiencing a growing disparity between rental costs and the price of entry-level homes. The median home value in Narberth is now more than $700,000. Based on current mortgage rates, a standard purchase involves at least $140,000 for a down payment and closing costs. Monthly payments exceed $4,000 before including taxes and insurance. A household with an income of $91,000 can afford the average rent but is unable to buy a home in this area. This situation has created a large group of people who rent because they have no other option, even though they would prefer to own. This group consists mostly of people between the ages of 28 and 40, which is the period when most people start families. Their demand for housing is consistent because the obstacles to homeownership are based on economic structures rather than personal choices or market timing.

Household sizes continue to fall. The national trend toward smaller households, driven by later marriage, lower birth rates, and longer lifespans, is already visible in Narberth’s data. The borough’s average household size of 2.3 sits below the county average, and the 716 people living alone make up the single largest household type. Smaller households mean more households per capita, which translates directly into more demand for housing units, and specifically for smaller units, studios and one-bedrooms, the sizes most efficiently delivered in multifamily buildings.

Remote and hybrid work models sustain the demand for housing near rail lines. Hybrid work schedules, two or three office days a week for many white-collar workers, keep rail-adjacent locations attractive. A household that commutes to Center City three days a week values a 20-minute train ride without needing to live downtown. Narberth fits that pattern precisely, and the demand it generates is already priced into the rents. Narberth is located on the Paoli/Thorndale line and is within walking distance of shops and restaurants. It offers a quiet borough environment rather than a city neighborhood. This environment aligns with current market trends. The resulting demand is established and is reflected in current rent prices.

What this means for the zoning debate

The demand for rentals in Narberth is strong, rising, and unlikely to weaken. The forces behind it, school access, rail access, constrained supply, and demographic shifts toward smaller and older households, are more structural than cyclical. That much is common ground between those who support the 4a and 5b amendments and those who oppose them.

Where the two sides part company is on what follows from the diagnosis.

The case for the amendments holds that strong demand and rising rents call for more supply, and that loosening zoning is the way to deliver it. That argument is correct in the abstract. The case against holds that the supply these amendments would deliver, market-rate apartments renting above $2,500 a month, does not serve the households most squeezed by current rents, and that by-right redevelopment of the small buildings where those households live could make the squeeze worse. That argument is examined in detail elsewhere.⁷

The demographic picture adds a further dimension. The rental types best positioned to absorb growing demand, smaller units in walkable locations near the train station, are also the rental types the amendments would add. But the households generating the strongest new demand, aging residents downsizing and younger workers priced out of ownership, are not the households that new construction at $2,500 a month serves. The market the amendments would build for and the market that needs relief are different. They are connected by the filtering mechanism that the research literature describes but that a half-square-mile borough cannot deliver at meaningful scale.¹³

The rental market in this small borough is very tight. Demand is driven by lasting factors, so adding a small number of expensive units will not solve the problem. The high value placed on the school district and public transit are permanent characteristics that make Narberth desirable. The borough should not focus on reducing demand. Instead, it must find ways to prevent current renters from being displaced by the new development that this demand creates.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Our Narberth, Inc., its board, or its members.