It’s cheaper to own a home than rent in these 3 Phoenix suburbs

In Arizona, the rent is too damn high — or so that’s what a newly released report indicates.

Rent in the Grand Canyon State has skyrocketed in the past five years at a rate nearly triple the national average, according to a “state of rent” report released by Rentec Direct, a software platform used by landlords and property managers. The company used rent payment data from about 350,000 tenants nationwide to craft its report, finding that rent increased an average of 31% nationwide since 2019.

In that same span, however, Arizona renters saw a staggering 84% increase — the largest jump in the country. In 2019, the average rent in Arizona was $891 a month. Now, it’s $1641. The only other states that saw rent increases of more than 65% were Tennessee and New Mexico.

In Arizona, the biggest year-over-year changes took place in the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, with the average rent in Arizona jumping $532 between 2019 and 2022. That was the highest increase in rent among any state over that stretch.

“Arizona has one of the fastest-growing populations in the country — especially among retirees — while also facing a significant housing shortage,” Rentec Direct wrote in its report. “This combination is driving up demand. Several large companies have relocated their headquarters to Arizona in recent years, including Dutch Bros, DoorDash, and Comtech, further adding to this pressure.”

While rent is alarmingly high across the state, another report shows that in three developing suburbs of the Phoenix area, it’s actually cheaper to own a home than to rent one. A different report from New York-based financial technology company SmartAsset placed three Arizona locales in its top 10 cities where buying is cheaper than renting.


Surprise and San Tan Valley took the top two spots on the list. In both, median monthly costs for homeowners were at least $300 cheaper than for renters. Buckeye landed at No. 7, with the monthly cost of home ownership coming in about $145 cheaper than renting. Most of the other cities in the list are in Florida. (Smart Asset does not appear to factor the cost of a down payment into its home ownership calculation.)

Here’s the full breakdown for the three Arizona cities on the list:

1. Surprise

Median monthly costs while renting: $2,110
Median monthly housing costs for homeowners: $1,789
Median home value: $443,500

2. San Tan Valley

Median monthly costs while renting: $2,091
Median monthly housing costs for homeowners: $1,791
Median home value: $433,500

7. Buckeye

Median monthly costs while renting: $1,930
Median monthly housing costs for homeowners: $1,785
Median home value: $426,000

In major cities across the country, owning a home tends to be more expensive than renting. In Phoenix, it’s only about $140 more costly to own a home than to rent. But in cities like Seattle and San Jose, it costs about $1,400 more every month to own.

The city where the relative expense of owning a home is highest is Newark, New Jersey — owning a home there is almost double the cost of renting.