Editorial note: Homefront (defined in the Disclosure below) may earn a commission from affiliate partner links featured on our site. This commission does not influence our editors’ opinions or evaluations.
Clara Haverstic is a data journalist at USA TODAY Homefront. She attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she studied data science and political science. Her research experience across statistics, psychology, and political communication taught her how to ask questions and find data-driven answers. When she’s not combing through datasets, she enjoys improv, cooking, and reading science fiction. Clara is originally from southwest Missouri and now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Zillow Observed Rent Index shows what any renter can already tell you: Signing a lease is more expensive than ever. Typical rent prices, defined in the Zillow index as changes in asking rents over time, increased by 35.7% from December 2018 to December 2023, far outpacing overall inflation. Rent prices increased by 3.3% between December 2022 and December 2023 alone, higher than the overall inflation rate of 3.1% over the same period.
It makes sense then that rent is a serious expense. A new study by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that a record 22.4 million U.S. renters are spending more than 30% of their income on rent and utility costs.
As affordable renting becomes increasingly out of reach for many Americans, knowing the best cities for renters can go a long way if your aim is to save money and still live and work in a nice location.
The research team at USA TODAY Homefront ranked 315 U.S. cities across 19 key metrics to determine which cities offer renters the best cost incentives and optimal quality of life benefits, such as good schools, plenty of restaurants and low crime rates.
We highlight the best cities to move to for renting singles, families and pet owners.
Cary, North Carolina, is the best city for renters in 2024 due to financial accessibility, low crime and good schools.
Cary is also the best city for renting families. In addition to top schools, it also has affordable rentals and access to recreation.
Overland Park, Kansas, is the best city for renters with pets, and Jersey City, New Jersey, is the best city for single renters.
The midwest region has the lowest median rent prices, with Evansville, Indiana, and Fargo, North Dakota, standing out as the cheapest.
California and Florida have the highest percentage of rent-burdened residents.
We ranked the best cities for renters in the U.S. based on relevant measures, including affordability, city amenities, housing inventory and availability, and crime statistics. These measures create a snapshot of what it’s like to rent in each location.
We specifically examined the percentage of rent-burdened residents in each town along with typical rent prices to determine affordability. City amenities considered include walkability and number of nearby bars, restaurants and childcare facilities.
Cary, North Carolina, made the top of our list of the most renter-friendly towns thanks to its high safety score, affordability and high-paying job market. The rest of the top-rated cities also scored well on our key metrics:
Most of our top-rated cities are adjacent to other larger cities: Cary to Raleigh, Jersey City to New York City, Overland Park to Kansas City, Santa Clara to San Jose, and Arlington to Washington, D.C.
Although these cities aren’t always cheaper than their metro counterparts, higher incomes overall mean fewer rent-burdened residents. Our top-ranked cities also tend to have lower crime rates and better-ranking schools than their urban counterparts. For example, based on information from NeighborhoodScout, Overland Park’s Blue Valley School District scores a 10 out of 10, while the Kansas City School District scores 2 out of 10.
With a typical rent cost of $875 across all home types, Evansville, Indiana, was the cheapest city in our study. Typical rent falls under $1,000 in only six cities: Evansville, Indiana; Fargo, North Dakota; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Davenport, Iowa; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Edinburg, Texas. Five of these six cheapest cities are in the Midwest. Two of them — Cedar Rapids and Fargo — also ranked in our overall top 10 cities for renters.
Northeastern states have the highest percentage of residents who rent. Connecticut and New Jersey in particular have large renter populations: Renters make up more than 70% of the population in Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut, as well as Elizabeth, Paterson, Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey.
Jersey City, New Jersey, ranks as the best city for renting singles, followed by Overland Park, Kansas; Arlington, Virginia; Cary, North Carolina; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We determined the best cities for single renters on several metrics, including the number of bars per 1,000 residents, the percentage of young adults (ages 20–39) living in the area, and the inventory of studios and one-bedroom apartments.
Rental properties in Jersey City consist of nearly 50% studios and one-bedrooms, and 39% of Jersey City’s population is between the ages of 20 and 39. Plus, with nearly 10 bars per 1,000 residents and a high walkability score, it’s a great place to move and mingle.
Jersey City also attracts young professionals thanks to its vicinity to New York City, just as Arlington attracts workers commuting to Washington, D.C. For singles on a budget, Sioux Falls has a high young adult population and a typical rent of just $1,170 across all home types.
Cary, North Carolina, our overall best city for renters, is also our top-ranked city for renting families, followed by Overland Park, Kansas; Fishers, Indiana; Buffalo, New York; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We ranked the best cities for renting families based on metrics including crime rates, school rankings, rental inventory with multiple bedrooms, the prevalence of other renting families, and the number of local kid-friendly activities and childcare facilities.
Cary ranks best for renting families thanks to its low crime rate, well-rated Wake County public schools, and nearly seven childcare facilities per 1,000 children. Thanks to ample employment opportunities in the Raleigh-Durham area and Research Triangle Park, Cary is a popular location among millennial couples settling down and expanding their families.
The next top city for families, Overland Park, is home to two of Kansas’s top-rated school districts, Blue Valley School District and Shawnee Mission School District. Another honorable mention for renting families is Santa Clara, California, with 67 childcare facilities per 1,000 children and a $15 million government grant program supporting childcare facilities.
Overland Park, Kansas, is the best city for renters with pets, followed by Cary, North Carolina; Tyler, Texas; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Lee’s Summit, Missouri. We ranked the best cities for pet lovers based on the percentage of pet-friendly rental listings and walkability.
Overland Park has 58% of pet-friendly Zillow rental listings. Santa Ana, California, has the highest percentage of pet-friendly rentals overall, at 88.6% of listings. However, because 60% of its population is rent-burdened, the city scored lower overall.
Menifee, California, ranks as our overall worst city for renters. Seventy-nine percent of its population is rent-burdened: Median rent in the city is $2,682, while median income is just $42,338. The rest of these lowest-ranking cities — all in California — also had high rents and rent burden:
Combined, California and Florida account for 19 of the 25 cities with the largest proportion of rent-burdened residents. California claims 10 spots, and Florida claims nine.
Moving is a process. Regardless of the reason for your move — to save money on rent, lower the cost of living or access better schools — you need to be ready. See our checklist for what you need to do before you pull out the packing tape:
The research team at USA TODAY Homefront ranked 315 of the largest cities across the United States to determine the best cities for renters. The research team pulled these 19 metrics to gain insight into housing, economy and livability:
Rental vacancy rates were not available for Yuba and Madera, California. For those cities, the California state wide rental vacancy rates were used. We’ve excluded cities for which comprehensive data was not available.
Questions about our study? Please contact Homefront at press@homefront.usatoday.com.
Review our full data set of all 315 cities we evaluated and how they scored here:
We encourage journalists to share our findings on the best cities for renters. If you choose to do so, please link back to our original story and credit USA TODAY Homefront for the research.
Editorial note: The name “Homefront” refers to the alliance between USA TODAY and Home Solutions that publishes review, comparison, and informational articles designed to help USA TODAY readers make smarter purchasing and investment decisions about their home. Under the alliance, Homefront provides and publishes research and articles about home service and home improvement topics.
Homefront has an affiliate disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Homefront editorial staff alone (see About Homefront). Homefront adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is believed to be accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
Effective packing is key to a successful move, and you can achieve this through proper planning and organization. Some of the best packing tips for moving include getting started early, using your items as packing materials and keeping itemized lists of your boxes to track what you packed and where it goes. This guide explores…
To ensure the care of your belongings and the welfare of the moving team, professional movers may refuse to transport certain items for safety, legal or logistical reasons. While you may know some things movers won’t move, such as hazardous chemicals and fireworks, what about succulents and your grandma’s antique armoire? Know which items your…
When selecting a moving company for help relocating across state lines, the first thing to check is whether it’s properly licensed. Then, figure out which movers offer the services you need and the customer support you expect at a price you can afford. We analyzed and reviewed top interstate movers in the U.S. based on…
Moving is a stressful endeavor, and the challenges can multiply when you have furry friends in tow. When moving with pets, it’s up to you to prepare them for the move, secure their safe relocation and help them adjust to their new surroundings, all while keeping abreast of health and licensing requirements. We spoke to…
TEST Our editorial team is committed to creating independent and objective content focused on helping our readers make informed decisions. To help support these efforts we receive compensation from companies that advertise with us.
The compensation we receive from these companies may impact how and where products appear on this site. This compensation does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides within our content. We do not include all companies, products or offers that may be available.