Kansas City: Rent
Median home price: $213,900
Median annual rent: $10,300
Price-to-rent ratio: 21
What's this stolid Midwestern city doing on the rent side of the buy-rent equation? Well, Its median purchase price is slightly above the national average while rents are very reasonable.
Kansas City's economy has been only middling, with unemployment near national averages. And as with other heartland cities, that stability has kept prices affordable. That enables many renters to make the transition to homeowners, which has, in turn, freed up rentals and helped to keep rental costs low.
NEXT: Phoenix: Buy
Last updated January 25 2011: 8:31 AM ET
