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Rating

Rent Covers Cost of Owning

Scale56-100

Graded like school, from F (56) to A+ (100). Higher is better.

About This Ranking

Goal

Highlight places where typical rent covers more of the monthly cost of buying the typical home today, with its mortgage, property tax, insurance, and energy. It compares area medians, not any property's cash flow.

Sources

Data behind the rating

7 sources

2020-2024 U.S. Census ACS 5-Year: Gross Rent

2020-2024 estimates; released January 29, 2026
Data
Place-level median gross rent for homes rented for cash, its published 90% margin of error, and the estimated number of those homes.
What it tells us
Supplies twelve months of typical rent, including renter-paid utilities, for the homes that are actually rented.

2020-2024 U.S. Census ACS 5-Year: Owner-Occupied Home Value

2020-2024 estimates; released January 29, 2026
Data
Place-level median of owners' estimates of their homes' values, its published 90% margin of error, and the estimated number of owner-occupied homes.
What it tells us
Supplies the price side from existing owner-occupied homes, not listings or sale prices.

Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 30-year fixed

Latest weekly average at the last update; the receipt shows its date
Data
The weekly national average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, published through the St. Louis Fed as series MORTGAGE30US.
What it tells us
Sets a typical mortgage payment; a particular loan's rate depends on credit, points, and loan type.

2020-2024 U.S. Census ACS 5-Year: Owner Real-Estate Tax

2020-2024 estimates; released January 29, 2026
Data
Place-level B25103 median annual real-estate taxes reported for owner-occupied housing units and its published 90% margin of error.
What it tells us
Describes the existing owner-occupied stock during the survey period; it is not a parcel assessment or a prediction of a buyer's post-purchase bill.

Treasury Federal Insurance Office ZIP-level homeowners insurance data

2018 to 2022 policy years; released January 2025
Data
Average premium per policy, claim frequency, and nonrenewal rate for standard HO-3 and HO-5 policies on owner-occupied homes, by ZIP code, from the NAIC data call behind the office's January 2025 report.
What it tells us
Shows what local homeowners paid for standard coverage in 2022, not a quote for a particular home or today's rates.
Data
Each utility's 2024 residential revenue over its residential sales, moved to 2025 by its state's change in average price and matched to towns through retail service territory maps.
What it tells us
Gives the average residential rate of the utilities serving a town, not the rate plan or tier a particular household pays.

EIA 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey

2020 survey; public microdata version 7
Data
Energy use of 11,585 single-family detached homes, used to fit how heating and cooling grow with the climate for each main heating fuel and to calibrate each state's homes to their actual use.
What it tells us
Describes a typical detached home's energy use, not the size, insulation, or habits of any particular household.

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