The U.S. News and World Report recently published a report about the most undervalued markets to rent a home. Five cities in the Midwest topped the list with Omaha taking the number one spot.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, households spending more than 30 percent of their gross monthly incomes on a place to live are "cost burdened," since that leaves less room for spending on other necessities of life. Nationally, some renters are paying well over half of local per-capita incomes for rent.

However, at the other end of the spectrum, in the most undervalued markets, some renters are paying below 24 percent of median per-capita incomes for rent. As a result, with many renters paying well below the U.S. medians for these ratios, a number of cities are likely undervalued based on local earnings. 

The rent-to-income ratio in Omaha is 23.66 percent, which is far below the national median of nearly 36 percent. St. Louis, Cleveland, Minneapolis and Oklahoma City rounded out the top 5.

According to the report, the median rent price in Omaha is $1,335 per month. Although it is up 9.5 percent compared to a year ago, it still remains the lowest rent price compared to all metropolitan statistical areas.

Bottom Line

While rental prices may be lower than neighboring cities, prices continue to increase. Finding affordable housing options can be difficult. Let's connect to talk through those options.