Brookings finds the early-2020s US immigration surge pushed metropolitan rents up by about 1.4-1.6%, but native-born renters' wages rose at least 1.6% net of the increase - so native-born residents on average came out ahead. For city audiences the lesson is that migration-driven housing pressure is real but modest, shifting the policy question toward housing supply responsiveness rather than migration itself.
Brookings, Sept 23, 2026