03/03/2026
In every major U.S. metro, renting now costs less than owning.
According to a recent Axios analysis of metro housing costs, the monthly cost of homeownership exceeds renting in the majority of large U.S. cities. Elevated mortgage rates combined with still-high home prices have widened the affordability gap, even as rent growth has cooled from pandemic peaks.
In several high-cost metros, owning a median-priced home now requires $1,000+ per month more than the cost of renting a comparable property. The shift reflects the rapid increase in borrowing costs since 2022, which has materially raised monthly mortgage payments despite modest price stabilization in some regions.
And this doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. When the cost of capital rises faster than wages as has happened since the global pandemic, homeownership becomes less and less affordable. The increased cost of homeownership doesn't end at housing however. This dynamic negatively affects household formation, mobility, consumer spending, and long-term wealth accumulation patterns across regions.
Affordability pressures may slow home sales, but they also strengthen rental demand as ownership moves further out of reach. For investors, the opportunity may be in identifying still affordable markets where the rent-own gap sustains continued rent growth.
Source: Axios.com, Data: LendingTree analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data; Note: Monthly costs include utilities, fees, and/or taxes; Median housing costs above $4,000 are recorded as "$4,000+" by the Census Bureau; Original Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios
