The Cost to Buy vs Rent in Ohio

Out of 10 Ohio cities analyzed, it’s cheaper to buy than rent in half of them.

With home prices in the 100s in many areas, Ohio is a homebuyer’s dream.

Your total payment in the state could be close to $1,000 according to our conservative assumptions: a 5% down plus estimated private mortgage insurance (PMI), property taxes, and homeowner’s insurance. See the full methodology at the end of this article.

If you want to become a homeowner, Ohio could be the place to do it.

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Monthly Cost Difference to Buy

1. Columbus +$360
2. Cincinnati +$50
3. Cleveland -$364
4. Toledo -$56
5. Akron -$81
6. Dayton -$61
7. Canton +$186
8. Springfield +$286
9. Mansfield +$233
10. Youngstown -$523

1. Columbus

Ohio’s biggest city is also the most expensive on our list, though still ultra-affordable by national standards. The median sales price in the U.S. is currently $417,700, making Columbus look like an extreme value by comparison.

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2. Cincinnati

An affordable mid-sized city, Cincinnati offers attainable home prices, especially compared to area rents. According to our methodology, it may only cost $50 more per month to own a home here compared to renting.

3. Cleveland

This town of around 380,000 is on the shores of Lake Erie, providing plenty of summer and winter activities. Sports enthusiasts love it too, as it’s home to an NBA, NFL, and MLB team. But what’s most attractive is that owning a home here will cost you about $364 less per month than renting.

4. Toledo

Another Lake Erie town, Toledo offers extreme affordability for homebuyers. And, it will likely cost you less per month than renting for those who can come up with a 5% down payment – just $5,600 for the typical home.

5. Akron

Less than an hour south of Cleveland, Akron is a nice alternative to the bigger city. According to Redfin, recently sold homes in the low 100s offer three to four bedrooms, two to three baths, and 1,000 to 1,500 square feet of living space.

6. Dayton

With robust employment opportunities in the area, anchored by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base according to Dayton.com, it’s surprising Dayton home prices are so low. It will cost around $61 less per month to own a home than rent one.

7. Canton

While homes are affordable in Canton – they cost only slightly more per month than renting – population has decreased from 85,000 in 1990 to 70,000 today according to the city’s website. If the trend continues, it could put downward pressure on home prices.

8. Springfield

We estimate that a house payment in Springfield could be under $1,400 per month. While that’s more than what it costs to rent, it’s within FHA qualification standards for someone making around $3,500 per month (about a 40% debt-to-income ratio with no debt).

9. Mansfield

Mansfield offers low rent prices and could be a good choice for someone who isn’t quite ready to buy a home. With low rents, a future homebuyer could easily save up a 5% down payment on the typical home here, which would be only $6,260.

10. Youngstown

It doesn’t get much more affordable than Youngstown. With prices near $50,000, the entire payment including mortgage insurance, taxes, and homeowner’s insurance could be less than $650. And with rents over $1,150, you could save over $500 per month by buying a house.

Get Pre-Approved for Your Ohio Home

Homes in Ohio are in a range of prices affordable to just about any budget. See what home price you qualify for by requesting your pre-approval from a reputable lender.

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Methodology

To compare the costs of buying versus renting in 10 Ohio cities, we started with typical home prices as reported on the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) Single-Family Home Time Series for November 2023. We assumed a 5% down payment, the typical requirement for first-time buyers. We then calculated the monthly payment on a 30-year fixed mortgage using a 6.845% rate, the average rate at the time of data collection as published on Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices for a buyer with less than 20% down and a 700 FICO score. We added PMI costs per rates from mortgage insurance provider MGIC. Then we added annual homeowner’s insurance premiums as reported by Policygenius and property tax data from Roofstock and the U.S. Census Bureau. We assumed zero HOA dues. We compared this total housing payment with rent data from the Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI) Smoothed Single Family Residence Time Series except when no data was available, in which case we searched for current rent statistics on Zillow’s site. City selection was based on the highest population except where it made sense to bypass a suburb of a major city to highlight one in a different area.