Rent or buy? 10 cities rated

As Pittsburgh transitioned from the heart of the steel industry to a more varied economy, population growth slowed, and home prices fell. The current median is just $130,000 and sale prices are about 22 times annual rent.

At that level, it's hard to find a rental cheap enough to make financial sense. Metro area home prices have long-term appreciation rates of nearly 4%, easily exceeding the rate needed to make purchasing the better option.

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