Buying a Home Is Cheaper Than Renting in 57% of Counties—Here’s the Catch

It’s cheaper to own a home than rent, but the high upfront costs of home ownership are keeping many potential buyers in rental properties, a new report showed.

In 57% of counties analyzed by real estate data firm ATTOM, the cost of renting a three-bedroom property was higher than owning it.

“The data shows that buying is typically the most affordable long-term option, but as the housing market sets new record-high prices quarter after quarter, affording the initial investment becomes increasingly challenging,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, in a release.

The study comes as home prices continued to rise nationwide. The National Association of Realtors data shows that prices rose for the 30th straight month in December. 

Inspection fees, closing costs, moving expenses, maintenance and repairs, homeowners association fees, taxes, and insurance are other factors that can push up the cost of owning. Zillow calculated that “hidden” costs such as these add almost $16,000 a year to the average U.S. homeowner’s expenses.

The Dynamics Are Always Shifting

While homeownership may be more affordable in the most recent data, the dynamics between the costs to own a home and to rent are often shifting, said Florida Gulf Coast University Economics Professor Shelton Weeks.

Home ownership was the most affordable option in the Midwest and South, the study found. Renting was the better option in the Northeast and West, where it was more affordable to buy than rent in only 17% of counties.

Affordability can also vary widely even within counties, Weeks said. For example, in Collier County in southwest Florida, waterfront mansions in Naples help push the median home price in the county to above $800,000; homes in the inland town of Immokalee don’t fetch even half that much, Weeks said.

“When you try to look at a county that is that diverse in terms of the housing stock, and you just look at the raw numbers, it’s hard for it to really tell an accurate story because the markets are so inherently local,” Weeks said.

Supply Levels And Regulations Tilt The Scales

Home ownership generally becomes the cheaper option in areas with fewer rental properties, often the result of local development and density regulations, Weeks said. 

“In most markets, it’s the result of limitations that local governments have placed on the market, in terms of the ability to add supply and increase the density of residential units,” Weeks said. 

And in areas like southwest Florida, where state laws have encouraged building of more apartments, the balance has shifted in favor of renting, Weeks said.

“Developers [in the state of Florida] are currently bringing a fairly significant number of affordable rental units to the market,” Weeks said. “That will tilt the balance in favor of renting instead of buying. It may not swing it enough to make the rental option more attractive than buying in all markets, but it is going to shift it a little bit in that direction.” 

Housing Prices Are Rising Faster than Rent

Even though home ownership was more affordable than renting, the ATTOM study also showed that housing prices climbed faster than rents in more than two-thirds of U.S. counties in 2025.

And in a similar proportion of counties, it took more than a third of the median income in order to afford a home. That’s more than the 28% that financial experts recommend. It was worse for renters, who had to spend a third of their typical wages to afford a three-bedroom rental in more than 75% of U.S. counties.

Despite affordability pressures on homeowners and renters alike, the study found that wages grew faster than shelter costs in most places. In 2025, wages grew faster than rent for a three-bedroom property in three-quarters of U.S. counties, while worker pay increased more than the cost of owning in almost 60% of the 364 counties surveyed.