The short answer: Kamloops has one of the tightest rental markets in the BC Interior. CMHC's October 2025 survey put purpose-built apartment vacancy at 1.2%, with average rents of $1,347 for a one-bedroom, $1,679 for a two-bedroom and $2,094 for three bedrooms or more. Rents in the same buildings rose 4.0% for one-bedrooms in the year to October 2025, after 6.4% the year before. Kelowna, by contrast, was at 6.4% vacancy.
If you're renting in Kamloops, thinking about buying a rental, or setting the rent on a suite, these are the numbers that matter, where they come from, and what they leave out.
Kamloops rent and vacancy, by unit size
CMHC surveys every purpose-built rental apartment building in the Kamloops metro area each October. These are its figures for the last two surveys:
| CMHC, Kamloops CMA | Vacancy Oct 2024 | Vacancy Oct 2025 | Average rent Oct 2024 | Average rent Oct 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 1.3% | 1.7% | $1,254 | $1,328 |
| One-bedroom | 1.3% | 1.0% | $1,274 | $1,347 |
| Two-bedroom | 1.5% | 1.3% | $1,531 | $1,679 |
| Three-bedroom or more | 0.0% | 2.3% | $1,877 | $2,094 |
| All units | 1.4% | 1.2% | $1,379 | $1,489 |
A few things to know when you read that table:
- Raw averages move with the mix of buildings. When new, more expensive buildings join the survey, the average rises even if no existing tenant paid more. CMHC's cleaner measure compares the same buildings year to year: one-bedroom rents rose 4.0% in the year to October 2025 and 6.4% the year before. (The same-building figure for two-bedrooms wasn't published for 2025.)
- The three-bedroom numbers are thin. There were only 95 three-bedroom-plus apartments in the 2025 survey, and CMHC rates the 2024 figures as less reliable. Treat them as a rough guide.
- Supply is growing. The survey counted 4,792 units in October 2025, up from 4,326 a year earlier. Vacancy still edged down, which says demand kept pace.
How Kamloops compares with the rest of the Interior
| CMHC, October 2025 | Vacancy | Two-bedroom average rent |
|---|---|---|
| Kamloops | 1.2% | $1,679 |
| Kelowna | 6.4% | $2,118 |
| Vernon | 3.2% | $1,619 |
| Penticton | 2.2% | $1,473 |
Two years earlier, Kamloops and Kelowna both sat at 1.3%. Since then Kelowna's vacancy has climbed as thousands of new purpose-built units arrived, while Kamloops has stayed tight. A rate around 3% is often treated as balanced; BC uses 3% as a threshold in its own short-term rental rules. Kamloops vs Kelowna goes further into what that gap means for investors.
What drives rental demand in Kamloops
Two large institutions anchor it, and neither moves with mortgage rates:
- Thompson Rivers University, which says it serves more than 25,000 students across its Kamloops and Williams Lake campuses and through Open Learning online. Not all of them live in Kamloops, but the Kamloops campus is a steady source of renters, especially for studios and one-bedrooms near campus and downtown.
- Royal Inland Hospital and the wider Interior Health workforce: nurses, physicians and allied health staff, many of whom rent when they first arrive.
Kamloops is also a transport and logistics hub where the Trans-Canada, the Coquihalla and two railways meet, which brings trades and project workers who tend to rent.
On the sales side, the Association of Interior REALTORS® (AIR) put the Kamloops single-family benchmark at $655,700 in December 2025, essentially flat through the year, with 496 sales in the last three months of 2025, about 4% fewer than a year earlier. Flat prices and tight rentals is the combination that keeps landlords interested.
Where each data source helps, and where it doesn't
CMHC's Rental Market Survey is the most rigorous source for vacancy and rent, usually published in December for the October survey. It covers purpose-built rental apartments only. Basement suites, rented houses and privately rented condos aren't in it, and in Kamloops that secondary market is large.
Rentals.ca and other listing sites cover the secondary market, but they show asking rents, not what tenants sign for. Treat a listing average as an upper bound.
BC Assessment gives property-level assessed values. Comparing them with recent sale prices on the streets you care about shows whether a neighbourhood is trading above or below assessment. Just don't read a trend into a handful of sales.
AIR's monthly releases give sales, listings and benchmark prices for Kamloops and District, but nothing on rents.
What the data doesn't tell you
- Neighbourhood vacancy. CMHC's provincial tables don't break Kamloops down by neighbourhood. A property manager who works a specific area will know far more about it than any table.
- The condition of what's available. A vacancy rate counts empty units, not whether they're any good. A well-kept unit competes with a smaller pool than the headline suggests.
- Rent you can actually raise. BC caps increases for a sitting tenant at 3% for 2025, 2.3% for 2026 and 2.2% for 2027. Market rent only reaches a landlord when a unit turns over.
- The informal market. Plenty of Kamloops rentals are let through word of mouth and Facebook Marketplace and never appear on a listing site.
How to research rent for a specific property
- Start with CMHC's average for the unit size as a sanity check, then adjust for condition, parking, laundry and whether utilities are included.
- Track a handful of comparable listings for a few weeks. Note the asking rent, when each appears and when it disappears. Time to fill tells you more than the asking price.
- Call two property managers who work the neighbourhood. Ask what similar units actually rent for and how long they sit.
- Ask the seller for the leases, not just the rent roll. Note each rent and when the tenancy started.
- Underwrite on current rent. Put any market-rent upside in a separate scenario; this worked duplex example shows why.
Common questions
What is the rental vacancy rate in Kamloops?
1.2% for purpose-built apartments in CMHC's October 2025 survey, down from 1.4% in 2024 and 1.3% in 2023. It's one of the lowest in the BC Interior.
How much is rent in Kamloops?
In CMHC's October 2025 survey, purpose-built apartments averaged $1,328 for a studio, $1,347 for a one-bedroom, $1,679 for a two-bedroom and $2,094 for three bedrooms or more. Basement suites and houses aren't in that survey and can rent for more or less.
Are rents still rising in Kamloops?
Yes, but more slowly. One-bedroom rents in the same buildings rose 4.0% in the year to October 2025, after 6.4% the year before. For an existing tenancy, increases are capped at 2.3% for 2026 and 2.2% for 2027.
Is Kamloops a good place to own a rental property?
The rental side is strong: low vacancy, steady demand from TRU and the hospital, and growing supply that has so far been absorbed. The challenge is price. At early-2026 prices and mortgage rates, a typical rental bought with 20% down doesn't cover its costs from rent alone, so the case depends on long-term appreciation and mortgage paydown.
Sources: CMHC — Rental Market Survey data tables, British Columbia (2024 and 2025) · AIR — Kamloops market, December 2025 (7 January 2026) · TRU — about · Province of BC — rent increases
Corrected 6 October 2026. The first version of this post had figures that didn't match CMHC or the Association of Interior REALTORS® (AIR), including CMHC's 2024 Kamloops vacancy rate (1.4%) given as the 2025 rate (1.2%). It's now built on CMHC's survey tables, including the by-bedroom figures.
Written by Jagatjeet, as part of a public BC Interior real estate learning journey. Published 19 February 2026. Corrected 6 October 2026. Updated 7 October 2026. Jagatjeet is working toward a BC real estate licence and is not a licensed realtor. Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice.