Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton rentals, researched.
School profiles, neighbourhood data and rent surveys for Hamilton — every figure with its source, year and licence attached. No listings, no estimates, no scores.
Operated by DistrictIQ Inc., Brokerage. No listings, prices or availability are published here — those live on DistrictIQ (opens DistrictIQ in a new tab).
Rent: CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada Table 34-10-0133-01 — the average rent of occupied purpose-built rental apartments, not advertised rents. Tenure: Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 2021.
Renting in Hamilton
Hamilton is really two cities stacked on top of each other. The Niagara Escarpment runs straight through it, and almost every conversation about where to live here starts with whether you are above the brow or below it. The lower city holds the oldest housing, the tightest street grid and the highest concentration of renters; the Mountain is postwar and later, more car-shaped, with rental stock that leans towards low-rise apartment blocks and basement suites.
The second thing to know is that Hamilton is an amalgamated city. Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Glanbrook and Stoney Creek were separate municipalities until 2001, and they still feel separate — different main streets, different commutes, and in the City's own data, different boundaries. When a listing says "Hamilton", it might mean a walk-up on Barton Street or a subdivision in Binbrook forty minutes away.
About a third of Hamilton households rent, and in the neighbourhoods around the downtown core that share passes 80%. That concentration is why the city's rental conversation is so often a downtown conversation — but it also means the areas with the most listings are the ones where building age, heating type and what is included in the rent vary the most from one address to the next.
Start here
Neighbourhoods
Compare 95 areas of Hamilton
The lower city, the Mountain and the former municipalities behave like different housing markets. Compare who rents where, which schools and child care sit inside each boundary, and how the transit actually runs.
Schools
Look up any Hamilton school
Four boards operate in Hamilton. Look up any school’s grades, size, contact details and EQAO results — and see which neighbourhood it sits in.
Rent data
What average rent actually measures
CMHC surveys Hamilton together with Burlington and Grimsby. Here is what that figure covers, what it leaves out, and why no honest source can give you a rent for one neighbourhood.
Neighbourhoods where renting is common
Ordered by the share of households that rented at the 2021 Census.
81.3% of households rent
Durand
- 12,888 residents
- 1 schools
- 5 parks
81% of households rent
Corktown
- 7,283 residents
- 1 schools
- 8 parks
80.1% of households rent
Beasley
- 8,007 residents
- 1 schools
- 6 parks
73.9% of households rent
Stinson
- 3,969 residents
- 1 schools
- 7 parks
70.3% of households rent
Central
- 3,698 residents
- 1 schools
- 7 parks
63.3% of households rent
Blakeley
- 3,151 residents
- 2 schools
- 1 parks
Average rent, latest survey
CMHC surveys occupied purpose-built rental apartments each October. These are Hamilton census metropolitan area (Hamilton, Burlington and Grimsby) figures — the smallest geography the survey publishes for Hamilton.
How to read these figures, and what they cannot tell you →
One number, in context
A two-bedroom in the Hamilton census metropolitan area averaged $1,659 in October 2025, up 1.4% from $1,636 a year earlier.
CMHC surveys Hamilton as part of the Hamilton census metropolitan area, which also takes in Burlington and Grimsby. That is wider than the city, and the areas it adds are generally more expensive, so the published average sits a little above what a comparable unit inside Hamilton itself tends to cost.
Source: CMHC Rental Market Survey (October of each year), via Statistics Canada Table 34-10-0133-01. Adapted under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Guides
Guide
The Hamilton renter guide
What to check before you sign, and the rules that apply in Ontario.
Guide
Moving to Hamilton
Getting oriented: where things are, how people get around, what to set up first.
Guide
Renting with children
Schools, child care and the questions worth asking before a lease.
Guide
Student rentals
Renting around McMaster University and Mohawk College.
Rent data
One-bedroom rent
Method
Every source, licence and limitation
Where this page’s data comes from
- School information and student demographics, 2024–2025 (opens Ontario Ministry of Education in a new tab) — Ontario Ministry of Education. 2024–2025 school year. Updated annual (the ministry lists the dataset as updated monthly; a new school year is added once a year). Retrieved September 4, 2026. Open Government Licence – Ontario (opens Ontario Ministry of Education in a new tab)Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
- City of Hamilton Open Data — Neighbourhoods (planning units), Parks, HSR Bus Stops, Libraries, Recreation and Community Centres, Addresses (opens City of Hamilton in a new tab) — City of Hamilton. Layers as published (edit dates recorded per layer in the raw manifest). Updated continuous; refetched on each data build. City of Hamilton Open Data Licence (opens City of Hamilton in a new tab)Contains public sector Data made available under the City of Hamilton's Open Data Licence
- CMHC average rents for areas with a population of 10,000 and over (Table 34-10-0133-01) (opens Statistics Canada (data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rental Market Survey) in a new tab) — Statistics Canada (data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rental Market Survey). October 2023, 2024 and 2025 surveys. Updated annual (each survey is released in the following winter). Retrieved September 4, 2026. Statistics Canada Open Licence (opens Statistics Canada (data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rental Market Survey) in a new tab)Source: Statistics Canada, Table 34-10-0133-01 (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey). Adapted under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
- Census 2021 — shelter cost and tenure by census subdivision (Tables 98-10-0254-01 and 98-10-0255-01) (opens Statistics Canada in a new tab) — Statistics Canada. 2021 Census (May 2021). Updated every five years. Statistics Canada Open Licence (opens Statistics Canada in a new tab)Source: Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 2021 (Tables 98-10-0254-01 and 98-10-0255-01). Adapted under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
- Census 2021 — dissemination-area profiles (opens Statistics Canada in a new tab) — Statistics Canada. 2021 Census. Updated every five years. Statistics Canada Open Licence (opens Statistics Canada in a new tab)Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. Adapted under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
- Licensed child care facilities in Ontario, July 2026 (opens Ontario Ministry of Education in a new tab) — Ontario Ministry of Education. 31 July 2026 snapshot. Updated monthly. Retrieved September 4, 2026. Open Government Licence – Ontario (opens Ontario Ministry of Education in a new tab)Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
Full method notes, refresh cadence and the list of data this site deliberately does not publish are on the data page.