KNUE-FM — Sure, they say everything is bigger in Texas. That may be mostly true. But over the last ten years or so, that didn’t necessarily include newly built apartments.
If apartment living in Texas has felt a little tighter lately, you’re not imagining it. For years, new apartments have been shrinking—but now, in some cases, that trend may finally be starting to shift. According to the Dallas Morning News in May of 2025, “Apartments [were] getting smaller. And one North Texas city [led] the country in shrinking abodes.”
The Numbers Don’t Lie—Apartments Were Shrinking
The Dallas Morning News linked to a RentCafe study shared last year, which revealed that new-build apartments in Arlington had dropped by 215 square feet over the past decade. That may not sound like much, but it can make a big difference.
“The average size of a new apartment built in Arlington between 2015 and 2024 was 902 square feet — down from an average of 1,117 for units built in the decade before 2015,” the Dallas Morning News reported…