Equity Residential owns and operates apartment communities concentrated in major U.S. urban markets, particularly coastal gateway cities like New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle and San Francisco. As a real estate investment trust, the company distributes most of its taxable income to shareholders as dividends, generating revenue from apartment rental income across its portfolio of owned communities. Equity Residential's focus on dense, high-cost urban markets differs from apartment REITs concentrated in Sunbelt or more geographically dispersed markets, targeting renters who value urban amenities and are willing to pay premium rents for centrally located apartments. The company's rental income and property values are sensitive to job growth in its target urban markets, migration trends affecting urban living demand, and broader interest rate trends that affect both its cost of capital and the relative attractiveness of renting versus homeownership for its tenant base.