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10 Amazing Big Cities for Renters in 2023

November 7, 2023

4 min Read

Written by Gabrielle Olya

Edited by Somnia Keesey

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Good news for renters — rent prices have finally started to cool thanks to an increase in supply, according to a recent study from HouseCanary. The median national rent was $2,305 at the end of 2022, and although that marks a 4.8% increase from 2021, that’s a 5.9% decrease from the end of the first half of 2022, the study found.

With rent prices cooling, it’s now cheaper to rent than own in several major cities across the U.S. To find the best big cities for renters, GOBankingRates looked at the rental markets across 50 major cities to find places where the rent prices are increasing at a slower rate than average, where the average annual rent is cheaper than the average annual mortgage, and where livability scores are high. Here’s a look at the best big cities for renters in 2023.

1. Columbus, Ohio

Average monthly rent: $1,308
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 6.4%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,556
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $2,970
Livability score: 73

2. San Antonio, Texas

Average monthly rent: $1,431
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 4.43%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,837
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $4,869
Livability score: 71

3. Raleigh, North Carolina

Average monthly rent: $1,651
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 5.85%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,477
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $9,917
Livability score: 74

4. Mesa, Arizona

Average monthly rent: $1,750
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 1.13%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,331
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $6,971
Livability score: 77

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5. Austin, Texas

Average monthly rent: $1,871
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 4.22%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $4,161
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $27,480
Livability score: 72

6. Virginia Beach, Virginia

Average monthly rent: $1,840
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 5.17%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,129
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $3,466
Livability score: 79

7. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Average monthly rent: $1,097
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 6.29%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,108
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $131
Livability score: 61

8. Fort Worth, Texas

Average monthly rent: $1,766
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 6.27%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,989
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $2,676
Livability score: 73

9. Jacksonville, Florida

Average monthly rent: $1,632
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 6.08%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $1,744
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $1,345
Livability score: 69

10. Colorado Springs, Colorado

Average monthly rent: $1,801
Year-over-year change in rent (%): 4.91%
Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,567
Annual savings for renting vs. owning: $9,198
Livability score: 70

Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates first looked at the 50 largest cities in terms of housing markets as sourced from Zillow’s December 2022 data. From there, GOBankingRates compared the 50 cities to the United States average for (1) year-over-year change in rent price in USD; (2) the percentage change in year-over-year rent, and (3) 2022 average rent. For a city to move on to the next round of rankings it had to have smaller values for factors (1) – (3) than the United States as a whole. Once these qualified (22) cities were isolated, GOBankingRates found each city’s (4) annual mortgage payment through Zillow’s mortgage calculator; assuming a 20% down payment with a 6.09% 30-year fixed rate mortgage as sourced from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average in the United States data and property taxes sourced from the Tax Foundation. GOBankingRates then found (5) the difference between an annual mortgage payment and annual rent. If the annual rent payment was the smaller figure, the city moved into the final round. In the final round, GOBankingRates found each city’s (6) livability score as sourced from Areavibes. Then, GOBankingRates scored and combined factors (3), (5) and (6), with the lowest score being the best. In final calculations, factor (3) was weighted 2x and factor (6) was weighted 1.5x. All data was collected and is up to date as of Feb. 2, 2023.

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