Portugal’s most sought-after rental locations: inland towns gain ground

Portugal rental demand is spreading beyond Lisbon and Porto, with 31 high-demand municipalities recording rents below €1K a month.
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Idealista data for the second quarter of 2026 places Amadora, Trofa and Vila Franca de Xira at the top of Portugal’s rental-demand ranking, while lower-rent municipalities in the interior gain ground.

Portugal rental demand is no longer concentrated only around the country’s largest cities, according to idealista’s latest ranking of the 50 municipalities with the strongest demand for rental homes.

Municipalities around Lisbon still occupy many of the highest positions, but towns in the interior of the country have become more prominent in the second quarter of 2026. This matters for foreigners renting in Portugal, particularly those comparing the higher costs of the Lisbon area with options in the interior — Portugal’s inland regions.

Portugal rental demand in 2026: the top municipalities

The ranking is based on demand pressure per rental advert on idealista. Amadora, in the Lisbon district, came first, followed by Trofa in the Porto district and Vila Franca de Xira in the Lisbon district.

Position
Municipality
District
Average monthly rent
1
Amadora
Lisbon
€1,159
2
Trofa
Porto
€863
3
Vila Franca de Xira
Lisbon
€1,165
7
Sintra
Lisbon
€1,651
8
Odivelas
Lisbon
€1,397
10
Pinhel
Guarda
€650

Renting near Lisbon remains in high demand

Municipalities on Lisbon’s outskirts again dominated the upper part of the ranking. Amadora ranked first, while Vila Franca de Xira took third place. Loures was sixth, Sintra seventh and Odivelas eighth.

Lisbon municipality itself was absent from the top 50. This is likely due to the effect of prices on the capital’s relative attractiveness, now recognised as one of Europe's least affordable cities.

Higher rents across Lisbon district

The rental figures underline the price gap between much of the Lisbon district and several municipalities elsewhere in Portugal:

  • Sintra: €1,651 per month, ranking seventh for demand.
  • Odivelas: €1,397 per month, ranking eighth.
  • Vila Franca de Xira: €1,165 per month, ranking third.
  • Amadora: €1,159 per month, ranking first.
  • Alenquer: €983 per month, ranking ninth.
  • Azambuja: €938 per month, ranking 14th.

Among Lisbon-district municipalities listed in the top 50, Alenquer and Azambuja were the only two cited by idealista with average rents below €1,000 a month.

Trofa stands out in Porto district

Trofa ranked second nationwide for rental demand, with an average rent of €863 per month. It was one of eight municipalities in the Porto district included in the top 50.

Several other Porto-district municipalities recorded rents under €1,000:

  • Marco de Canaveses: €675 per month
  • Felgueiras: €679 per month
  • Amarante: €830 per month
  • Paredes: €894 per month
  • Valongo: €910 per month
  • Gondomar: €976 per month

Santo Tirso was the exception among the municipalities mentioned for the district, with an average rent of €1,061 per month.

Interior Portugal becomes more visible in the rental market

The standout development in the second-quarter data was the presence of more municipalities in inland Portugal among the country’s most sought-after rental locations.

Several of these municipalities combined a top-half ranking with lower median rents:

  • Pinhel, Guarda: 10th place, €650 per month
  • Moura, Beja: 15th place, €600 per month
  • Campo Maior, Portalegre: 20th place, €454 per month
  • Mirandela, Bragança: 21st place, €558 per month

For people looking at renting in Portugal beyond Lisbon and Porto, these locations form part of a broader shift in the distribution of demand recorded by the property portal.

The lowest average rent in the top 50

Miranda do Douro, in Bragança district, had the lowest median rent in idealista’s full top-50 ranking: €425 per month. It ranked 34th for demand.

Other low-rent locations cited in the data were Campo Maior at €454 per month and Aguiar da Beira, in Guarda district, at €500 per month.

Algarve rents remain high in the ranking

The Algarve had two municipalities near the bottom of the demand ranking with comparatively high median rents:

  • Faro: 47th place, €1,519 per month
  • Silves: 49th place, €1,313 per month

Monchique was the only Algarve municipality mentioned with a median rent below €1,000. It ranked 38th, at €970 per month.

How idealista measured Portugal rental demand

Idealista’s ranking covers municipalities that had at least 35 rental-home adverts on its platform during the second quarter of 2026.

Demand pressure was calculated through the number of leads received per advert. These leads included email contacts, offers submitted and properties saved by users as favourites.

The portal calculated the median rents for advertised homes after excluding outlying values.

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