Rently 2026 Apartment Access & Security Report

4 in 10 Renters Say Anyone Can Walk Into Their Building, With No Security to Stop Them

Broken security features are pushing renters to reconsider where they live, while 60% say they would pay more for community-wide security upgrades.

Apartment communities market safety the same way: gated entry in the listing photos, security cameras on the amenities page, controlled access on the leasing tour. Renters are looking for those things too, and they check whether the property actually has them.

What renters live with is often something else. Some communities have no controlled entry at all, while others have security features that break or go unrepaired. Those failures can shape where renters choose to live, whether they renew and how much they are willing to pay for better security.

Purpose of this study

To understand where renters’ sense of safety actually comes from, Rently partnered with the third-party survey platform Pollfish in August 2026 to survey 800 U.S. adults who rent an apartment or other multifamily residence about the security conditions they live with and how those conditions affect their leasing decisions.

The Rently 2026 Apartment Access & Security Report examines how renters define apartment security, how much of it their buildings actually deliver, how property management responded when renters raised concerns, and how security issues affect leasing and renewal decisions. It also explores where renters set limits on newer security technology.

Key Findings of the Rently 2026 Apartment Access & Security Report

• • • 40% of renters say their building has no controlled entry and guests or deliveries simply walk in.
    • 56% have lived somewhere with an apartment security feature that existed but didn’t work.
    • Only 29% of renters who raised a safety concern say management fixed it quickly.
    • 34% left their community over safety concerns after a broken security feature was never fixed.
    • 55% have added their own apartment security device, or wanted to and weren’t allowed.
    • 60% would accept a rent increase for community-wide security upgrades, averaging $74 a month among those willing.
    • Only 11% fully trust apartment security claims like “gated community” or “24-hour surveillance” in rental listings.
    • 52% say advance notice before anyone enters their home matters more than any other safeguard.

Many Apartment Buildings Have No Controlled Entry at All

40% of renters say their building has no controlled entry and guests or deliveries simply walk in.

 

When a guest or a delivery needs to get in, renters describe no controlled entry at all (40%), a call box or intercom at the entrance (21%), going down to let visitors in themselves (20%), letting someone in remotely (13%), or handing out a code or lending a fob (6%).

Among renters who have a code or key to share, 58% have never given one to someone who doesn’t live with them, 22% shared access once for a specific reason, 9% shared it and the code has since changed, and 11% shared access with someone they believe could still get in today.

59% of renters can name a place on their own property where they feel unsafe. Among them, the parking lot or garage leads (25%), followed by inside their own home (23%), the walk from a car or bus stop to the door (21%), hallways, stairwells, or elevators (12%), the mailroom or package area (7%), laundry or storage areas (6%), and shared amenities like the gym or pool (6%).

 

Renters Judge Apartment Security by What They Can See and Test

56% of renters name bright, working lighting as a signal of a safe apartment community, and 49% name security cameras covering shared areas.

 

The features renters most associate with a safe apartment community include bright, working lighting in parking areas and walkways (56%), security cameras covering shared areas (49%), a gate or entry door that actually stays locked (41%), knowing exactly who has access to their unit and when (39%), well-maintained grounds with damage repaired quickly (39%), working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (37%), neighbors they recognize (35%), and a video doorbell or camera at their own door (33%).

90% of renters chose at least one condition tied directly to apartment access control or security camera systems, 87% chose at least one upkeep or human signal, and 80% chose both.

Advance Notice Matters Most When Someone Needs Access While Residents Are Away

When someone needs access to their home while they’re away, 52% of renters say advance notice before anyone enters their home matters more than any other safeguard.

 

When asked what would matter most if maintenance, a contractor, a delivery person, or a guest needed access while they were out, renters chose advance notice before anyone enters (52%) at more than double the rate of any other option, followed by a video intercom for remote entry (22%), knowing management screens vendors (20%), granting or cancelling access from a phone (17%), an auto-expiring code (17%), and an entry log (14%). 17% say nothing would make them comfortable with it.

Delivering that kind of visibility depends on the smart home and access infrastructure that connects residents, property teams and entry activity. And renters say they would use it: 33% would use a single app for safety alerts, door access, and vendor-entry notifications because they’d rather have everything in one place, and 28% would use it for alerts and entry specifically, for 61% combined. 20% would prefer text or email, 14% wouldn’t use it at all, and 5% say they already have too many apps for where they live.

 

Renters Install Their Own Security Systems When Management Won’t

55% of renters have added their own apartment security device, or wanted to and weren’t allowed.

55% of renters have added a security device to a rental or wanted to and weren’t allowed, while 45% have never added anything. Renters have installed video doorbells (22%), indoor or outdoor security cameras (19%), their own locks, braces, or extra deadbolts (15%), motion-sensor lights (10%), and door or window alarm sensors (9%). Another 7% wanted to add something but their lease or landlord wouldn’t allow it.

Property security failures are linked to more renters installing their own devices: 61% of renters who have lived with a broken gate, camera, light or lock went on to add their own security device, compared with 37% who never experienced a broken feature.

Broken Apartment Security Features Cost Properties Renewals

34% of renters left their community over safety concerns after a broken security feature was never fixed, compared with 11% of renters who never had one break.

 

56% of renters have lived somewhere with an apartment security feature that existed but didn’t work: 19% waited months for a repair, 19% saw it fixed quickly, and 18% never saw it fixed at all. Another 35% have never had a security feature break, and 9% aren’t sure whether they have.

34% of renters left their community over safety concerns after a broken security feature was never repaired, compared with 32% when the repair took months, 17% when it was fixed quickly, and 11% among renters who never had a feature break.

 

Reported Security Problems Often Go Unresolved

Only 29% of renters who raised a safety concern say management fixed it quickly.

 

57% of renters have raised a safety or security concern with their property management team, 37% have never had one to report, and 6% had a concern but never reported it.

Among renters who did report something, 29% say management fixed the problem quickly. Another 29% say management acknowledged the problem but never acted on it. 27% say it was fixed only after they kept following up about it, and 15% say management never responded at all.

A lack of transparency around safety incidents creates similar pressure. When renters learn from a neighbor about a safety incident that management never disclosed, 33% would take their own precautions and move on, 27% would complain or demand an explanation, 18% would start looking for somewhere else to live, and 13% would lose trust but say nothing. Only 9% say it wouldn’t bother them much.

 

Apartment Safety Shapes Leasing Decisions Before Move-In

49% of renters would walk away from a rental they otherwise liked because of visible damage that hadn’t been repaired.

 

Renters would walk away from a rental they otherwise liked over visible damage that hadn’t been repaired (49%), online reviews mentioning safety problems (48%), poorly lit parking areas or walkways (43%), and a current resident mentioning a recent incident (36%). Only 14% say that nothing safety-related would outweigh the right price and location.

Only 11% of renters fully trust advertised language like “gated community” or “24-hour surveillance,” while 37% mostly trust it but verify on site, 30% assume it’s exaggerated until they see proof, 13% never noticed those claims, and 10% have learned not to trust them at all.

66% of renters completed at least one safety check before signing, most often reading reviews that mentioned safety (27%), looking up crime statistics or maps (26%), asking the leasing agent directly (23%), asking a current resident (23%), or checking whether entry doors, gates, or cameras actually worked (22%).

34% did not check for safety at all, a share that rises with age: 19% of Gen Z renters, 31% of Millennials, and 42% of Gen X and older renters.

Most Renters Would Accept a Rent Increase for Better Security

60% of renters would accept a rent increase for community-wide security upgrades, averaging $74 a month among those willing.

 

Asked the most they’d accept per month if their community added gated entry, monitored cameras, keyless entry, and upgraded lighting with rent rising to cover it, renters split between no increase (40%), up to $50 more (32%), $51 to $100 (13%), $101 to $150 (7%), $151 to $200 (4%), $201 to $300 (3%), and more than $300 (1%). The 60% open to an increase average $74 a month.

Among renters willing to pay more, the average runs $92 a month for Gen Z renters, $80 for Millennials, and $61 for Gen X and older renters.

 

What that willingness to pay adds up to:

If every U.S. apartment community added gated entry, monitored cameras, keyless entry, and upgraded lighting, the rent increase renters say they would accept comes to roughly $11 billion a year.

That figure applies this survey’s findings — 60% of renters willing to pay more, averaging $74 a month — to the roughly 21 million occupied U.S. apartment units reported by the National Multifamily Housing Council.

Most Renters Accept Advanced Apartment Security Technology

67% of renters are comfortable with at least one AI or advanced security technology, led by cameras in shared spaces at 37%.

 

Renters are most comfortable with cameras in shared spaces that record continuously (37%), followed by cameras that alert staff when someone enters a restricted area (34%) and footage management can pull up and review at any time (33%). One in four renters (25%) are comfortable with AI that automatically flags unusual activity on the property, while 21% accept license plate reading at the parking gate and 19% accept fingerprint or face scanning to enter the building. Overall, 67% are comfortable with at least one of these technologies, while 34% would rather not have any of them where they live.

What Renters Told Us

We asked renters to describe the most frustrating, absurd, or memorable experience they’d had with safety or security at a place they rented. A few of their answers:

“My car was stolen, and my apartment keys were in it at the time. The landlord refused to change my apartment lock and also refused to change the building’s locks. Said it would cost too much.”

“A man once entered my apartment without notice while I was sleeping. I grabbed a bat and charged the door. He turned out to be a maintenance worker. Management just forgot to inform us.”

“Someone got into our building and stole the top of the washer and dryer coin machine. Nobody heard anything, somebody had let them in, and management said the security cameras were not working.”

“The room where I rent doesn’t have a lock, and there are two broken windows. I called at least four times to report it and ask for repairs but never heard back. I ended up boarding the windows myself with scrap plywood and putting an outdoor camera at the entrance.”

“I lived at an apartment complex where the security gate required a fob to enter the parking lot, but the gate was broken. It was part of the reason I chose that complex, but it still hadn’t been repaired when I moved out a year later.”

“I made repeated calls, texts and emails to my landlord about gate codes that didn’t work, but never got a response. Then they complained to me about unauthorized guests, even though those same visitors had been approved a year earlier.”

How Property Teams Can Respond

For property teams, the findings point to a few clear operational priorities. Controlled entry has to function reliably, existing security features need consistent upkeep, and resident-reported issues need to be addressed without long delays. When safety systems are consistent and dependable, residents are more likely to feel secure in their homes and stay longer.

Resident-installed devices can help at an individual unit, but they cannot replace community-wide access and security systems. A video doorbell can cover one unit door, but it cannot control the building entrance, parking structure, package room or vendor access. It also does not give property teams a community-wide record of access activity. When residents have to handle those needs on their own, operators have less visibility into what is happening across the property.

Rently’s Resident Lifecycle Management Platform brings apartment access control, security cameras and smart home devices together to give property teams greater visibility into access activity. Entry logs, activity records and resident notifications help teams see what happened and when while keeping residents informed. Learn more about how Rently supports multifamily operators.

“Security is becoming table stakes in the resident experience. But simply adding more devices doesn’t automatically make a community more secure. The real value comes from connecting access, cameras, smart home technology and communication so residents know what to expect and property teams know what’s happening across the community.

That’s where I think the industry needs to go next. Security technology should be reliable, connected and part of the everyday resident experience, not something that only shows up on an amenities list.”

— Merrick Lackner, CEO, Rently

 

Frequently Asked Questions About the Rently 2026 Apartment Access & Security Report

What apartment security features matter most to renters? Bright, working lighting in parking areas and walkways (56%) and security cameras covering shared areas (49%) top the list, according to the Rently 2026 Apartment Access & Security Report. These are followed by a gate or entry door that actually stays locked (41%) and knowing exactly who has access to the unit and when (39%).

How many apartments have no controlled access? 40% of renters say their building has no controlled entry and guests or deliveries simply walk in. Another 21% rely on a call box or intercom, 20% go down and let visitors in themselves, 13% let visitors in remotely, and 6% give out a code or lend a fob.

Do apartment security features affect retention? Yes. 34% of renters left their community over safety concerns after a broken security feature was never fixed, and 32% left when the repair took months. That compares with 17% when the problem was fixed quickly and 11% among renters who never experienced a broken feature.

Will renters pay more for apartment security? 60% would accept a rent increase for community-wide upgrades including gated entry, monitored cameras, keyless entry, and upgraded lighting. Among those willing to pay more, the average acceptable increase is $74 per month. 40% would not accept an increase for security upgrades.

Are renters comfortable with AI-powered apartment security? Mostly yes, within limits. The Rently 2026 Apartment Access & Security Report found that 67% of renters are comfortable with at least one AI-powered security feature, while 34% would rather not have any of them. Comfort is highest for cameras in shared spaces that record continuously (37%) and cameras that alert staff to restricted-area entry (34%), and lowest for license plate reading (21%) and fingerprint or face scanning (19%).

How do renters want to be notified about apartment security issues? 52% of renters say advance notice before anyone enters their home matters more than any other safeguard, and 61% would use a single app for safety alerts, door access, and vendor-entry notifications.

Survey Methodology

The Rently 2026 Apartment Access & Security Report was conducted in August 2026 via Pollfish among 800 U.S. adults who rent an apartment or other multifamily residence. The survey assessed how renters define apartment security, the security conditions they have experienced, management response to reported concerns, the effect of safety on leasing and renewal decisions, and comfort with AI-powered security technology.