Mortgage WellPrice-to-rent ratio by county
Divide a home’s price by a year of rent and you get the one number in the rent-versus-buy question that is a fact about your market rather than a forecast. Below roughly 13, buying tends to win. Above about 18, renting and investing the difference tends to.
- Counties covered
- 784of 3,134 — but 82% of the country’s owner-occupied homes.
- Median ratio, ranked counties
- 17×On recent-mover rents, across ranked counties. The same counties measured on Census rents come out near 19×.
- Below 13× — buying territory
- 19–109On Census rents, 19. On recent-mover rents, 109. Which renters you count decides it for 90 counties.
What these numbers are, and are not
Each county shows a range because there are two honest answers to 'what does it rent for'. The Census median describes households already living there, held down by long-tenured and rent-stabilised tenants. HUD's figure describes renters who moved in the last 15 months — the people you would be joining — but it is a 40th-percentile programme standard that excludes anything built in the last two years. Neither is the truth. The spread between them is how much the answer depends on which renters you count.
Ranked here are counties with at least 20,000 owner-occupied homes — about a quarter of US counties, but roughly four fifths of the homes. Smaller counties are searchable below, just not ranked: a ranking's extremes are where estimate error collects, and unfiltered this table led with resort counties where the rented homes and the owned homes are different housing entirely — Martha's Vineyard reports $1,277 median rent against $1.17m median value, a ratio that is arithmetically correct and tells you nothing.
Beside the recent-mover rent: (metro) means HUD publishes one figure for the whole metro area, shared with neighbouring counties, so it describes the area rather than this county. (varies) means the county spans more than one HUD rent area and they disagree — we show the median and would rather you did not lean on it. (lower) means the recent-mover rent comes in BELOW the Census median, which is unusual and reverses the range: it normally means heavy recent construction, since the Census counts new expensive units that HUD excludes for their first two years.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2020-2024). Ten counties are omitted because the Census does not publish both figures for them.
Where buying goes furthest
The 40 counties with the lowest price-to-rent ratios. Cheap relative to rent — though a low ratio often reflects weak demand, which is its own reason for caution.
| County | Median price | Monthly rentCensus / recent movers | Price-to-rentrange across both |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vermilion CountyIllinois | $97,200 | $838$974 | 8–10× |
| Robeson CountyNorth Carolina | $94,500 | $805$925 | 9–10× |
| Wayne CountyNew York | $170,000 | $938$1,573 (metro) | 9–15× |
| Oswego CountyNew York | $151,700 | $967$1,392 (metro) | 9–13× |
| Chemung CountyNew York | $141,100 | $1,059$1,283 | 9–11× |
| Fayette CountyPennsylvania | $143,200 | $793$1,299 (metro) | 9–15× |
| Cattaraugus CountyNew York | $113,100 | $770$1,007 | 9–12× |
| St. Lawrence CountyNew York | $121,900 | $818$1,071 | 9–12× |
| Liberty CountyTexas | $181,700 | $1,044$1,573 (metro) | 10–15× |
| Cambria CountyPennsylvania | $121,000 | $739$1,035 | 10–14× |
| Macon CountyIllinois | $127,300 | $847$1,063 | 10–13× |
| Clayton CountyGeorgia | $222,300 | $1,433$1,820 (metro) | 10–13× |
| Aroostook CountyMaine | $149,700 | $784$1,224 | 10–16× |
| Baltimore cityMaryland | $229,600 | $1,331$1,857 (metro) | 10–14× |
| Hinds CountyMississippi | $159,900 | $1,061$1,288 (metro) | 10–13× |
| Hunt CountyTexas | $241,700 | $1,222$1,931 (metro) | 10–16× |
| Ector CountyTexas | $200,200 | $1,259$1,595 | 10–13× |
| Wayne CountyMichigan | $178,500 | $1,132$1,411 (metro) | 11–13× |
| Wyandotte CountyKansas | $172,300 | $1,122$1,358 (metro) | 11–13× |
| Orangeburg CountySouth Carolina | $115,800 | $841$910 | 11× |
| Steuben CountyNew York | $137,900 | $894$1,081 | 11–13× |
| Carbon CountyPennsylvania | $211,400 | $994$1,634 (metro) | 11–18× |
| Sumter CountySouth Carolina | $165,300 | $1,057$1,276 | 11–13× |
| Cameron CountyTexas | $136,500 | $912$1,047 | 11–12× |
| Chautauqua CountyNew York | $127,900 | $812$975 | 11–13× |
| Rock Island CountyIllinois | $150,400 | $889$1,143 (metro) | 11–14× |
| Cumberland CountyNew Jersey | $221,400 | $1,282$1,673 | 11–14× |
| Madison CountyNew York | $184,600 | $928$1,392 (metro) | 11–17× |
| Hidalgo CountyTexas | $140,900 | $957$1,060 | 11–12× |
| Potter CountyTexas | $147,300 | $1,022$1,106 (metro) | 11–12× |
| Bibb CountyGeorgia | $174,500 | $1,066$1,307 (metro) | 11–14× |
| Delaware CountyIndiana | $139,400 | $906$1,043 | 11–13× |
| Madison CountyIndiana | $161,300 | $939$1,206 | 11–14× |
| Jefferson CountyNew York | $188,200 | $1,213$1,405 | 11–13× |
| Philadelphia CountyPennsylvania | $243,100 | $1,397$1,810 (metro) | 11–15× |
| Wichita CountyTexas | $153,700 | $1,006$1,136 (metro) | 11–13× |
| Vigo CountyIndiana | $148,500 | $924$1,094 (metro) | 11–13× |
| Monroe CountyNew York | $213,700 | $1,173$1,573 (metro) | 11–15× |
| Saginaw CountyMichigan | $152,800 | $947$1,117 | 11–13× |
| Calhoun CountyMichigan | $162,800 | $968$1,176 | 12–14× |
Where renting goes furthest
The 40 highest ratios. Resort and rent-regulated markets dominate, and the caveat above bites hardest here.
| County | Median price | Monthly rentCensus / recent movers | Price-to-rentrange across both |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Mateo CountyCalifornia | $1,559,600 | $2,922$3,604 (metro) | 36–44× |
| Santa Clara CountyCalifornia | $1,490,600 | $2,857$3,483 | 36–43× |
| Marin CountyCalifornia | $1,507,300 | $2,668$3,604 (metro) | 35–47× |
| San Francisco CountyCalifornia | $1,394,500 | $2,476$3,604 (metro) | 32–47× |
| Arlington CountyVirginia | $895,000 | $2,322$2,246 (lower) (metro) | 32–33× |
| Williamson CountyTennessee | $751,900 | $1,969$1,730 (lower) (metro) | 32–36× |
| New York CountyNew York | $1,090,500 | $2,197$2,910 (metro) | 31–41× |
| Alameda CountyCalifornia | $1,090,100 | $2,357$2,912 (metro) | 31–39× |
| Deschutes CountyOregon | $650,900 | $1,787$1,784 (lower) | 30× |
| Cache CountyUtah | $444,400 | $1,213$1,241 (metro) | 30–31× |
| Boulder CountyColorado | $756,300 | $1,966$2,124 | 30–32× |
| Island CountyWashington | $593,300 | $1,662$1,671 | 30× |
| Utah CountyUtah | $538,700 | $1,541$1,460 (lower) (metro) | 29–31× |
| Maui CountyHawaii | $904,700 | $1,916$2,624 | 29–39× |
| King CountyWashington | $859,900 | $2,092$2,501 (metro) | 29–34× |
| Nevada CountyCalifornia | $621,800 | $1,677$1,813 | 29–31× |
| Honolulu CountyHawaii | $897,500 | $2,083$2,642 | 28–36× |
| Kootenai CountyIdaho | $518,700 | $1,492$1,547 | 28–29× |
| Clallam CountyWashington | $421,800 | $1,152$1,266 | 28–31× |
| Larimer CountyColorado | $569,100 | $1,716$1,732 | 27–28× |
| District of ColumbiaDistrict of Columbia | $737,100 | $1,954$2,246 (metro) | 27–31× |
| Alexandria cityVirginia | $735,100 | $2,089$2,246 (metro) | 27–29× |
| Chelan CountyWashington | $490,100 | $1,226$1,500 (metro) | 27–33× |
| Whatcom CountyWashington | $585,800 | $1,555$1,794 | 27–31× |
| Lancaster CountySouth Carolina | $329,900 | $959$1,011 | 27–29× |
| Douglas CountyColorado | $713,600 | $2,193$2,089 (lower) (metro) | 27–28× |
| Washington CountyUtah | $510,700 | $1,566$1,575 | 27× |
| Fairfax CountyVirginia | $732,800 | $2,276$2,246 (lower) (metro) | 27× |
| Clackamas CountyOregon | $611,000 | $1,758$1,922 (metro) | 26–29× |
| Skagit CountyWashington | $545,100 | $1,536$1,720 | 26–30× |
| Flathead CountyMontana | $535,500 | $1,142$1,691 | 26–39× |
| Davis CountyUtah | $505,500 | $1,621$1,614 (lower) (metro) | 26× |
| Monroe CountyFlorida | $780,600 | $1,999$2,504 | 26–33× |
| Loudoun CountyVirginia | $743,800 | $2,386$2,246 (lower) (metro) | 26–28× |
| Kings CountyNew York | $905,000 | $1,833$2,910 (metro) | 26–41× |
| Gallatin CountyMontana | $667,600 | $1,694$2,154 | 26–33× |
| Ada CountyIdaho | $512,300 | $1,577$1,655 (metro) | 26–27× |
| Oldham CountyKentucky | $393,100 | $1,219$1,272 (metro) | 26–27× |
| San Luis Obispo CountyCalifornia | $824,700 | $1,992$2,671 | 26–35× |
| Washington CountyOregon | $588,000 | $1,849$1,922 (metro) | 25–27× |
Every other county
All 3,134 counties are searchable, including the smaller ones the ranking leaves out. Pick one to open the calculator with its figures already filled in.
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Run your own numbers
The ratio is a starting point, not an answer — the holding period, your investment return and what you would actually pay all move it.
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