10 Amazing Big Cities for Renters in 2023

• 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

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• 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

• 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

• 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

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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.