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15 Arizona Cities Where It’s Cheaper To Rent Than To Own a Home

February 28, 2025

5 min Read

Written by Nicole Spector

Edited by Molly Sullivan

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Millions of Americans are shopping for a home in 2025 — many of them first time homebuyers. The driving motive behind wanting to buy a home varies. Many people want a home to grow their net worth. Others are just tired of renting and having that sense of instability looming over their heads. And some people, frankly, just feel ready to finally do the thing and be a homeowner.

But homeownership is a massive financial responsibility, and one that doesn’t end once you put down the down payment. You’ve got to deal with the interest rates on your mortgage loan, property taxes, home insurance and maintenance costs. Renting really can be cheaper than owning, and we see this in Arizona, where the average home value is $424,842, up 0.2% over the past year.

In a new study, GOBankingRates analyzed rental costs and mortgage costs to find the cities in Arizona where it is cheaper to rent than to own. These are the top 15 cities in Arizona where renting is indeed cheaper than owning.

15. Litchfield Park

Average single-family home value: $533,548
Monthly average mortgage cost: $2,803
Monthly average rent cost: $2,111
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $692

14. Mesa

Average single-family home value: $442,807
Monthly average mortgage cost: $2,326
Monthly average rent cost: $1,608
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $718

13. Peoria

Average single-family home value: $492,464
Monthly average mortgage cost: $2,587
Monthly average rent cost: $1,865
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $722

12. Anthem

Average single-family home value: $575,454
Monthly average mortgage cost: $3,023
Monthly average rent cost: $2,293
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $730

11. Chandler

Average single-family home value: $533,575
Monthly average mortgage cost: $2,803
Monthly average rent cost: $1,931
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $871

10. Tempe

Average single-family home value: $487,761
Monthly average mortgage cost: $2,562
Monthly average rent cost: $1,666
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $896

9. Oro Valley

Average single-family home value: $515,555
Monthly average mortgage cost: $2,708
Monthly average rent cost: $1,810
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $898

8. Gilbert

Average single-family home value: $574,742
Monthly average mortgage cost: $3,019
Monthly average rent cost: $2,083
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $936

7. Fountain Hills

Average single-family home value: $725,590
Monthly average mortgage cost: $3,811
Monthly average rent cost: $2,805
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $1,006

6. Queen Creek

Average single-family home value: $634,568
Monthly average mortgage cost: $3,333
Monthly average rent cost: $2,238
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $1,096

5. Flagstaff

Average single-family home value: $679,454
Monthly average mortgage cost: $3,569
Monthly average rent cost: $2,304
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $1,265

4. Prescott

Average single-family home value: $606,867
Monthly average mortgage cost: $3,188
Monthly average rent cost: $1,720
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $1,468

3. Sedona

Average single-family home value: $963,145
Monthly average mortgage cost: $5,059
Monthly average rent cost: $2,517
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $2,542

2. Scottsdale

Average single-family home value: $922,103
Monthly average mortgage cost: $4,844
Monthly average rent cost: $2,284
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $2,560

1. Paradise Valley

Average single-family home value: $3,357,208
Monthly average mortgage cost: $17,635
Monthly average rent cost: $2,129
Monthly savings by renting instead of owning: $15,506

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities in Arizona to find places where it is cheaper to rent than to own. First, GOBankingRates identified cities in those states with an average single-family home value as well as an average rental cost. Assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.87%, as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data from Feb. 13, 2025, the average mortgage cost can be calculated for each city. The cities with a lower average rental cost than average mortgage were kept for this study. For each location a number of factors were found including; total population, population ages 65 and over, total households, and household median income all sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. Using this data the percentage of the population ages 65 and over can be calculated. The cost of living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces and include the grocery, healthcare, housing, utilities, transportation, and miscellaneous cost of living indexes. Using the cost of living indexes and the national average expenditure costs, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average expenditure cost for each location can be calculated. The livability index was sourced from AreaVibes for each location and included as supplemental information. Using the average mortgage and average expenditure costs, the average total monthly and annual cost of living can be calculated. The difference of rent from mortgage can be calculated and the cities were sorted to show the largest savings when someone is paying rent versus mortgage. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Feb. 19, 2025.

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