Forever Renters: Here’s How Much Five Years of Renting Will Cost You in 50 Major Cities
Planning on renting for a while?
If you are, the smartest thing to do is to look around to see how much it will cost you, compared to the costs of buying and owning a home if you’re able. GOBankingRates has done part of the calculations for you if you’ll be renting in one of the nation’s 50 largest rental markets.
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We’ve done this by analyzing Zillow’s rent data, with average rental costs for February 2024 as a starting point. In addition to converting those figures into rough costs for five years of renting, we’ve also included the cost of renting for the previous five years (February 2019 to February 2024) for perspective.
Some of the average monthly rental costs stretched out over five years may be eye-popping. Five years of renting in San Francisco will run you nearly $200,000. And that’s not the highest figure in our list. It’s also actually lower than the cost for the previous five years in the City by the Bay.
Here’s our full list, in reverse order from least to most expensive.
Also see the cost of renting vs. owning in every state.
Detroit
Average monthly rent: $1,241
Cost of rent for next five years: $74,448
Cost of rent for previous five years: $63,878
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Oklahoma City
Average monthly rent: $1,248
Cost of rent for next five years: $74,874
Cost of rent for previous five years: $66,264
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Milwaukee
Average monthly rent: $1,271
Cost of rent for next five years: $76,264
Cost of rent for previous five years: $67,885
Memphis, Tennessee
Average monthly rent: $1,283
Cost of rent for next five years: $77,002
Cost of rent for previous five years: $67,061
Buffalo, New York
Average monthly rent: $1,300
Cost of rent for next five years: $78,012
Cost of rent for previous five years: $67,378
Omaha, Nebraska
Average monthly rent: $1,309
Cost of rent for next five years: $78,542
Cost of rent for previous five years: $68,872
Indianapolis
Average monthly rent: $1,342
Cost of rent for next five years: $80,503
Cost of rent for previous five years: $68,734
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Louisville, Kentucky
Average monthly rent: $1,343
Cost of rent for next five years: $80,606
Cost of rent for previous five years: $68,960
Kansas City, Missouri
Average monthly rent: $1,358
Cost of rent for next five years: $81,497
Cost of rent for previous five years: $70,025
Columbus, Ohio
Average monthly rent: $1,380
Cost of rent for next five years: $82,822
Cost of rent for previous five years: $72,958
Cincinnati
Average monthly rent: $1,381
Cost of rent for next five years: $82,880
Cost of rent for previous five years: $70,291
San Antonio
Average monthly rent: $1,393
Cost of rent for next five years: $83,557
Cost of rent for previous five years: $77,898
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Rochester, New York
Average monthly rent: $1,440
Cost of rent for next five years: $86,425
Cost of rent for previous five years: $74,144
Tucson, Arizona
Average monthly rent: $1,443
Cost of rent for next five years: $86,556
Cost of rent for previous five years: $73,783
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Average monthly rent: $1,450
Cost of rent for next five years: $87,018
Cost of rent for previous five years: $73,553
Pittsburgh
Average monthly rent: $1,466
Cost of rent for next five years: $87,985
Cost of rent for previous five years: $79,043
El Paso, Texas
Average monthly rent: $1,511
Cost of rent for next five years: $90,679
Cost of rent for previous five years: $77,141
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Houston
Average monthly rent: $1,572
Cost of rent for next five years: $94,335
Cost of rent for previous five years: $87,234
Jacksonville, Florida
Average monthly rent: $1,597
Cost of rent for next five years: $95,795
Cost of rent for previous five years: $84,733
Mesa, Arizona
Average monthly rent: $1,642
Cost of rent for next five years: $98,523
Cost of rent for previous five years: $87,827
Baltimore
Average monthly rent: $1,644
Cost of rent for next five years: $98,642
Cost of rent for previous five years: $89,563
Raleigh, North Carolina
Average monthly rent: $1,670
Cost of rent for next five years: $100,200
Cost of rent for previous five years: $89,412
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Fort Worth, Texas
Average monthly rent: $1,677
Cost of rent for next five years: $100,629
Cost of rent for previous five years: $91,702
Philadelphia
Average monthly rent: $1,704
Cost of rent for next five years: $102,263
Cost of rent for previous five years: $94,496
Dallas
Average monthly rent: $1,710
Cost of rent for next five years: $102,588
Cost of rent for previous five years: $94,174
Las Vegas
Average monthly rent: $1,710
Cost of rent for next five years: $102,593
Cost of rent for previous five years: $92,790
Phoenix
Average monthly rent: $1,711
Cost of rent for next five years: $102,645
Cost of rent for previous five years: $90,888
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Austin, Texas
Average monthly rent: $1,719
Cost of rent for next five years: $103,158
Cost of rent for previous five years: $97,875
Portland, Oregon
Average monthly rent: $1,748
Cost of rent for next five years: $104,850
Cost of rent for previous five years: $99,369
Charlotte, North Carolina
Average monthly rent: $1,772
Cost of rent for next five years: $106,310
Cost of rent for previous five years: $93,989
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Average monthly rent: $1,806
Cost of rent for next five years: $108,357
Cost of rent for previous five years: $97,493
Fresno, California
Average monthly rent: $1,811
Cost of rent for next five years: $108,665
Cost of rent for previous five years: $92,752
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Nashville, Tennessee
Average monthly rent: $1,854
Cost of rent for next five years: $111,210
Cost of rent for previous five years: $100,893
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Average monthly rent: $1,854
Cost of rent for next five years: $111,235
Cost of rent for previous five years: $97,451
Bakersfield, California
Average monthly rent: $1,934
Cost of rent for next five years: $116,070
Cost of rent for previous five years: $98,629
Atlanta
Average monthly rent: $1,949
Cost of rent for next five years: $116,912
Cost of rent for previous five years: $108,337
Orlando, Florida
Average monthly rent: $1,962
Cost of rent for next five years: $117,690
Cost of rent for previous five years: $102,478
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Denver
Average monthly rent: $1,984
Cost of rent for next five years: $119,022
Cost of rent for previous five years: $109,527
Sacramento, California
Average monthly rent: $2,072
Cost of rent for next five years: $124,312
Cost of rent for previous five years: $112,701
Chicago
Average monthly rent: $2,087
Cost of rent for next five years: $125,198
Cost of rent for previous five years: $113,043
Seattle
Average monthly rent: $2,179
Cost of rent for next five years: $130,719
Cost of rent for previous five years: $123,921
Long Beach, California
Average monthly rent: $2,209
Cost of rent for next five years: $132,563
Cost of rent for previous five years: $119,921
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Washington, D.C.
Average monthly rent: $2,425
Cost of rent for next five years: $145,474
Cost of rent for previous five years: $138,326
Los Angeles
Average monthly rent: $2,791
Cost of rent for next five years: $167,489
Cost of rent for previous five years: $156,702
San Diego
Average monthly rent: $2,963
Cost of rent for next five years: $177,808
Cost of rent for previous five years: $155,443
Miami
Average monthly rent: $3,067
Cost of rent for next five years: $183,999
Cost of rent for previous five years: $150,794
San Jose, California
Average monthly rent: $3,107
Cost of rent for next five years: $186,439
Cost of rent for previous five years: $178,554
San Francisco
Average monthly rent: $3,276
Cost of rent for next five years: $196,576
Cost of rent for previous five years: $201,321
Boston
Average monthly rent: $3,359
Cost of rent for next five years: $201,560
Cost of rent for previous five years: $177,340
New York
Average monthly rent: $3,393
Cost of rent for next five years: $203,570
Cost of rent for previous five years: $183,539
Methodology: For this piece GOBankingRates looked at Zillow rent data for February 2024 to find the following for the 50 largest rental markets: (1) February 2024 rent; (2) 5-year cost of rent taking figure (1) and multiplying it by 60; and (3) total rent for February 2019 through February 2024. All data was collected on and is up to date as of April 3, 2024.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Forever Renters: Here’s How Much Five Years of Renting Will Cost You in 50 Major Cities
