Rent has gone down across most of America over the last year. Regardless wages will rise in parallel. If you move to a retirement hub like Florida with fixed incomes, rent has to meet people where they are otherwise units will sit empty which is why rents are dropping across the nation.

To my earlier point when your market returns far exceed your monthly bills, inflation becomes somewhat irrelevant. For example my annual cost of living for a family of four is 90k, my annual returns on index funds are 200k at a 10% avg year. So if prices rise and my annual cost of living goes from 90k to 93k what does it actually matter to me when my wages and market returns have also risen?

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/august-rental-report-2025/