With house prices and interest rates soaring, not to mention down payments of tens of thousands of dollars, home ownership is an unattainable dream for many people in the U.S. Instead, many would-be homeowners are continuing to rent, often for decades at a time.
As such, single-family house rentals are on the rise, with build-to-rent developments springing up across the country. Now, families, professionals, and couples who might once have considered buying are switching to renting houses when they feel it’s time to upsize.
It’s easy to see why. Renting a single-family house comes with a wealth of benefits, not least the far lower costs and flexibility compared to buying. But as with buying a home, choosing where to rent is an important consideration.
With that in mind, a recent study by Point2Homes looked at 75 of the largest metros in the U.S., in an attempt to find the best one for house renters. After comparing them against 25 metrics, covering everything from economy and housing benefits to quality of life and community aspects, Oklahoma City and Tulsa both proved to be top choices.
3 Things for House Renters To Love About Tulsa
With an overall score of 54.69, Tulsa comes 17th in the overall rankings. The metro performs particularly strongly in the housing and economic metrics, with healthy year-over-year job growth, low unemployment rates, and a good cost of living. What's more, the homes for rent in Tulsa are a good mix of both single-family and multifamily rentals, offering renters' plenty of choices.
1. Tulsa Enjoys a Fantastic Cost of Living Score
With the 6th lowest cost of living of the metros studied, Tulsa is one of the most affordable places for house renters to call home. At 74.3%, the cost of living in Tulsa is more than 25% lower than the national average, while being around a third of the cost of living in the most expensive metros studied. This score takes into account both rent and utilities.
Having said that, the average single-family renter household income is $62,675, the 8th lowest in the ranking. This means only 54.5% of house renters can comfortably cover their housing costs.
It’s also worth mentioning that Tulsa boasts the lowest prices for gasoline. On average, Tulsa residents will pay just $2.95 per gallon.
2. Tulsa Boasts a Healthy Job Market
With an unemployment rate of just 3%, Tulsa is among the top ten metros for low levels of unemployment. On top of that, the metro ranks 4th in terms of year-on-year job growth, with a score of 2.5%. The majority, just over 75%, of workers work in white collar roles, working in a diverse range of industries, including energy, tech, finance, and aviation.
Home to two Fortune 500 companies, Tulsa offers an array of job opportunities for house renters moving to the metro.
3. Tulsa Offers a Good Quality of Life
Tulsa scores high across several quality of life metrics. Most notably, with an average commute time of just 21 minutes, the metro takes joint pole position. House renters living in Tulsa spend much less time getting to and from work each day, and enjoy much more free time.
Tulsa also offers plenty of options when it comes to things to do. It has a higher-than-average number of amusement parks and a good number of movie theaters and performing arts companies.
3 Things for House Renters To Love About Oklahoma City
Not far from Tulsa, Oklahoma City is another great choice for house renters. With a score of 54.56, Oklahoma City is just one place below Tulsa, sitting at 18 of 75. Like Tulsa, Oklahoma City scores particularly well in terms of Housing and Economy metrics.
1. Oklahoma City Has the Second-Lowest Unemployment Rate
With an unemployment rate of just 2.8%, Oklahoma City takes second place in the rankings, second only to Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT. This is great news for house renters in search of a new place to call home.
Oklahoma City’s low employment rate is backed up by a healthy year-on-year job growth rate. At 2.1%, the metro ranks among the top ten. Together, these metrics promise an array of job opportunities for those moving to Oklahoma City.
2. Oklahoma City Has a Lower Than Average Cost of Living
The cost of living in Oklahoma City is just under 85%, the 19th lowest of the 75 metros studied. This may be slightly higher than in Tulsa, but the average household income for single-family house renters is also higher, at $64,545 a year. With 54% of house renters comfortably affording their housing costs, the bulk of Oklahoma City renters have no problems covering the costs of rent or utilities.
3. Oklahoma City Has a High Number of Single-Family Renter Households
Taking the 7th spot in the rankings, 43.6% of single-family households in Oklahoma City are occupied by renters, hinting at a strong market for rental houses. This is always good news for renters, as more choice often equates to better deals. The average number of bedrooms for a rental house in Oklahoma City is 3.8, which is about in line with the national average.
Overall, both Tulsa and Oklahoma City have a lot to offer house renters. They both excel in terms of a healthy job market, with some of the lowest unemployment rates in the ranking, and excellent year-on-year job growth figures. The fact that the job market in both metros is also fairly diverse, with opportunities across a range of sectors, is another bonus.
The lower-than-average cost of living that both metros offer is another fantastic advantage that is sure to attract renters who are seeking affordability. While neither metro excels in the quality of life or community metrics, neither do they perform particularly poorly.
As a result, house renters looking for a change of scene can find a lot to love about renting in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Methodology
Point2Homes.com is a real estate listing portal for rental homes across the United States. Part of Yardi Systems, Point2Homes covers housing trends and news through comprehensive studies that draw from internal data, public records, governmental sources, and online research.
- For this study, we considered the 75 largest Metropolitan Areas based on the most recent data from the 2023 1-year ACS.
- To determine the best metros for house renters, this report uses a combination of ranking scores and weighted averages across 25 relevant metrics, divided into two categories: Economy & Housing; and Community & Quality of Life.
- Each metric received a score based on the metric's minimum and maximum value multiplied by the metric's weight. The score for the final ranking was based on the sum of scores across all metrics. Ranking metrics and data sources:
Economy & Housing
- Cost of Living for Single-Family Renter Households (Rent + Utilities) compared to the National Average: Weight: 8%; Source: IPUMS*
- Renters Insurance (state level): Weight: 2%; Source: Insurance Information Institute
- Share of Single-Family Renter Households: Weight: 4%; Source: IPUMS
- Share of Single-Family Renter Households comfortably affording Housing Costs: Weight: 4%; Source: IPUMS
- Single-Family Renter Household Average Income: Weight: 8%; Source: IPUMS
- Unemployment Rate: Weight: 8%; Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Job Growth: Weight: 4%; Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Average Number of Bedrooms per Single-Family Renter Household: Weight: 2%; Source: IPUMS
- Average Number of Vehicles per Single-Family Renter Household: Weight: 2%; Source: IPUMS
- Average Gasoline Price: Weight: 4%; Source: aaa.com
Community & Quality of Life
- Community Well-Being Index: Weight: 8%; Source: Sharecare.com
- Safety (Violent & Property Crime Rate): Weight: 8%; Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Average Commute Time: Weight: 4%; Source: IPUMS
- Annual Hours of Delay per Commuter Average: Weight: 4%; Source: Texas Transportation Institute
- Walkability Index: Weight: 4%; Source: Environmental Protection Agency
- Share of Days with Good Air Quality: Weight: 4%; Source: Environmental Protection Agency
- Difference Between Average & Ideal Annual Temperature: Weight: 4%; Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: Weight: 4%; Source: WalletHub
- Food Services & Drinking Places (per 10,000 residents): Weight: 2%; Source: BLS
- Fitness & Recreational Sports Centers (per 10,000 residents): Weight: 2%; Source: BLS
- Golf Courses & Country Clubs (per 100,000 residents): Weight: 2%; Source: BLS
- Performing Arts Companies (per 100,000 Residents): Weight:2 %; Source: BLS
- Motion Picture & Video Exhibition Places (per 100,000 residents): Weight: 2%; Source: BLS
- Libraries & Archives (per 100,000 residents): Weight: 2%; Source: BLS
- Amusement & Theme Parks (per 1,000,000 residents): Weight: 2%; Source: BLS
*IPUMS means Integrated Public Use Microdata Series and provides census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space. IPUMS is a part of the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation at the University of Minnesota. Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Matthew Sobek, Daniel Backman, Annie Chen, Grace Cooper, Stephanie Richards, Renae Rodgers, and Megan Schouweiler. IPUMS USA: Version 15.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2024. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V15.0
Image credit: Alexander Lukatskiy, Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
Fair use and redistribution
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