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
- 3134
- Median ratio
- 17.8×
- Below 13×
- 494
What these numbers are, and are not
These come from Census ACS medians, which describe households already living in each county — not what someone moving in today would pay. Median rent is held down by long-tenured and rent-stabilised tenants, and the home value is what owners estimate rather than an asking price. Both push every ratio here upward, which flatters renting, and they do it hardest in rent-regulated markets — which is most of the top of this list. Treat these as upper bounds and a starting point, not as a verdict on any county.
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 | Median rent | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinney CountyTexas | $82,000.00 | $1,272.00 | 5.4× |
| Harding CountyNew Mexico | $70,000.00 | $1,038.00 | 5.6× |
| Culberson CountyTexas | $79,300.00 | $1,043.00 | 6.3× |
| Chattahoochee CountyGeorgia | $102,700.00 | $1,348.00 | 6.3× |
| Cochran CountyTexas | $53,200.00 | $697.00 | 6.4× |
| McDowell CountyWest Virginia | $50,000.00 | $643.00 | 6.5× |
| Stonewall CountyTexas | $48,600.00 | $613.00 | 6.6× |
| Esmeralda CountyNevada | $108,900.00 | $1,320.00 | 6.9× |
| Lamb CountyTexas | $82,400.00 | $968.00 | 7.1× |
| Eureka CountyNevada | $82,600.00 | $969.00 | 7.1× |
| Dickens CountyTexas | $65,300.00 | $758.00 | 7.2× |
| St. Helena ParishLouisiana | $77,300.00 | $870.00 | 7.4× |
| Oglala Lakota CountySouth Dakota | $52,900.00 | $584.00 | 7.5× |
| Hudspeth CountyTexas | $64,000.00 | $705.00 | 7.6× |
| Yukon-Koyukuk Census AreaAlaska | $98,500.00 | $1,084.00 | 7.6× |
| Willacy CountyTexas | $73,600.00 | $809.00 | 7.6× |
| Alexander CountyIllinois | $59,800.00 | $656.00 | 7.6× |
| McKinley CountyNew Mexico | $78,700.00 | $859.00 | 7.6× |
| Chautauqua CountyKansas | $65,500.00 | $708.00 | 7.7× |
| Garza CountyTexas | $77,800.00 | $838.00 | 7.7× |
| Hancock CountyGeorgia | $88,600.00 | $938.00 | 7.9× |
| Real CountyTexas | $112,500.00 | $1,188.00 | 7.9× |
| Edwards CountyKansas | $70,900.00 | $740.00 | 8.0× |
| Nevada CountyArkansas | $83,300.00 | $869.00 | 8.0× |
| Wilbarger CountyTexas | $89,400.00 | $932.00 | 8.0× |
| Stanton CountyKansas | $67,800.00 | $705.00 | 8.0× |
| Warren CountyGeorgia | $67,100.00 | $690.00 | 8.1× |
| Hyde CountyNorth Carolina | $124,000.00 | $1,263.00 | 8.2× |
| Apache CountyArizona | $63,700.00 | $647.00 | 8.2× |
| Comanche CountyKansas | $69,600.00 | $692.00 | 8.4× |
| Dewey CountySouth Dakota | $69,600.00 | $692.00 | 8.4× |
| Letcher CountyKentucky | $67,400.00 | $669.00 | 8.4× |
| Kusilvak Census AreaAlaska | $84,300.00 | $833.00 | 8.4× |
| Todd CountySouth Dakota | $53,900.00 | $532.00 | 8.4× |
| Knott CountyKentucky | $77,000.00 | $756.00 | 8.5× |
| Throckmorton CountyTexas | $89,500.00 | $878.00 | 8.5× |
| Wibaux CountyMontana | $98,600.00 | $963.00 | 8.5× |
| Newton CountyTexas | $103,100.00 | $1,001.00 | 8.6× |
| Quitman CountyMississippi | $69,600.00 | $672.00 | 8.6× |
| Appling CountyGeorgia | $76,700.00 | $739.00 | 8.6× |
Where renting goes furthest
The 40 highest ratios. Resort and rent-regulated markets dominate, and the caveat above bites hardest here.
| County | Median price | Median rent | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dukes CountyMassachusetts | $1,165,800.00 | $1,277.00 | 76.1× |
| Teton CountyWyoming | $1,633,900.00 | $1,904.00 | 71.5× |
| Nantucket CountyMassachusetts | $1,593,800.00 | $2,213.00 | 60.0× |
| San Miguel CountyColorado | $720,700.00 | $1,149.00 | 52.3× |
| Valley CountyIdaho | $657,000.00 | $1,117.00 | 49.0× |
| Pitkin CountyColorado | $1,139,100.00 | $2,004.00 | 47.4× |
| Marin CountyCalifornia | $1,507,300.00 | $2,668.00 | 47.1× |
| San Francisco CountyCalifornia | $1,394,500.00 | $2,476.00 | 46.9× |
| Boise CountyIdaho | $476,100.00 | $850.00 | 46.7× |
| Custer CountyIdaho | $381,700.00 | $691.00 | 46.0× |
| Blaine CountyIdaho | $735,300.00 | $1,338.00 | 45.8× |
| Elbert CountyColorado | $709,800.00 | $1,311.00 | 45.1× |
| Summit CountyUtah | $1,067,700.00 | $1,987.00 | 44.8× |
| San Mateo CountyCalifornia | $1,559,600.00 | $2,922.00 | 44.5× |
| Billings CountyNorth Dakota | $331,000.00 | $621.00 | 44.4× |
| San Juan CountyWashington | $799,200.00 | $1,512.00 | 44.0× |
| Teton CountyIdaho | $690,500.00 | $1,319.00 | 43.6× |
| Granite CountyMontana | $352,700.00 | $675.00 | 43.5× |
| Santa Clara CountyCalifornia | $1,490,600.00 | $2,857.00 | 43.5× |
| Carbon CountyMontana | $420,800.00 | $844.00 | 41.5× |
| Gunnison CountyColorado | $621,800.00 | $1,252.00 | 41.4× |
| New York CountyNew York | $1,090,500.00 | $2,197.00 | 41.4× |
| Skamania CountyWashington | $529,500.00 | $1,068.00 | 41.3× |
| Kings CountyNew York | $905,000.00 | $1,833.00 | 41.1× |
| Summit CountyColorado | $939,900.00 | $1,928.00 | 40.6× |
| De Baca CountyNew Mexico | $187,500.00 | $387.00 | 40.4× |
| Jefferson CountyMontana | $446,900.00 | $925.00 | 40.3× |
| Falls Church cityVirginia | $1,055,600.00 | $2,190.00 | 40.2× |
| Grand CountyUtah | $538,700.00 | $1,118.00 | 40.2× |
| Judith Basin CountyMontana | $238,300.00 | $495.00 | 40.1× |
| Park CountyMontana | $467,500.00 | $976.00 | 39.9× |
| Blanco CountyTexas | $483,500.00 | $1,017.00 | 39.6× |
| Maui CountyHawaii | $904,700.00 | $1,916.00 | 39.3× |
| Madison CountyMontana | $470,100.00 | $1,000.00 | 39.2× |
| Juab CountyUtah | $425,400.00 | $907.00 | 39.1× |
| Flathead CountyMontana | $535,500.00 | $1,142.00 | 39.1× |
| Lake CountyMontana | $421,800.00 | $901.00 | 39.0× |
| Boundary CountyIdaho | $410,500.00 | $877.00 | 39.0× |
| Kauai CountyHawaii | $873,200.00 | $1,870.00 | 38.9× |
| Wayne CountyUtah | $411,800.00 | $884.00 | 38.8× |
Every other county
All 3134 counties are searchable. Pick one to open the calculator with its figures already filled in.
Type at least two characters.
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.
Open the rent vs buy calculator