Whether you buy or rent, housing will take a big bite of your monthly budget. But in most major metros, new research shows it’s a little cheaper to rent.

In most cases, it's cheaper to rent than buy—but, in good news for homebuyers in two Rust Belt Cities, the exact opposite is true. It turns out, if you live in Pittsburgh or Detroit, it's actually cheaper to buy a home than it is to rent, according to the Realtor.com® January 2025 Rental Report.

There are only two major cities in the US where it is cheaper to buy a home than rent one, new analysis has revealed.

Key Takeaways It’s better to rent than to buy a home in all but two of the top 50 major metropolitan areas, a Realtor.com report showed.While rent prices are still higher than pre-pandemic levels, rising purchase costs have made renting more attractive in most of the country.