U.S. home sales skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting a 15-year high of 6.1 million in 2021. The spike in demand, coupled with declining inventory, have put upward pressure on housing prices. Renters have not been spared, as housing has become one of the key drivers of surging U.S. inflation.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, a family of four – two adults and two children – can expect to pay an estimated $15,031 on housing in 2022. This amount varies across the country, however, from state to state and city to city.

Of the 11 metro areas in Ohio, Mansfield has the lowest housing costs. According to the EPI’s Family Budget Calculator, a modest two-bedroom rental in the metro area will cost an estimated $8,808 in 2022, including utilities. For context, the statewide average cost of a comparable apartment is estimated at $10,324.

Rent prices often reflect the overall real estate market in a given area, and this pattern appears to hold in Mansfield. Just as rents in the area are lower than the statewide average, so too, are home values. According to five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the typical home in the metro area is worth $115,100, compared to the median home value of $151,400 across the state.

 

State	Metro area with lowest rental cost	Est. 2-bedroom rental cost, 2022, metro area ($)	Est. 2-bedroom rental cost, 2022, statewide ($)	Median home value, metro area ($)	Median home value, statewide ($)
Alabama	Dothan	8,472	9,784	131,600	149,600
Alaska	Anchorage	14,640	14,566	301,100	275,600
Arizona	Sierra Vista-Douglas	10,488	13,875	150,100	242,000
Arkansas	Fort Smith	8,736	8,993	119,500	133,600
California	Visalia	11,508	23,734	223,600	538,500
Colorado	Pueblo	10,032	17,157	172,500	369,900
Connecticut	Norwich-New London	14,724	17,127	246,800	279,700
Delaware	Dover	12,792	14,037	226,600	258,300
Florida	Sebring-Avon Park	10,452	15,232	120,500	232,000
Georgia	Dalton	9,036	12,152	136,800	190,200
Hawaii	Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina	21,264	23,335	657,400	636,400
Idaho	Pocatello	9,384	10,791	165,800	235,600
Illinois	Decatur	9,264	13,692	103,100	202,100
Indiana	Kokomo	8,784	10,331	113,900	148,900
Iowa	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island	9,408	9,802	141,600	153,900
Kansas	Topeka	9,612	10,740	137,900	157,600
Kentucky	Owensboro	9,852	9,687	139,300	147,100
Louisiana	Monroe	9,648	11,046	134,500	168,100
Maine	Lewiston-Auburn	11,364	13,104	166,600	198,000
Maryland	Cumberland	8,808	17,840	131,300	325,400
Massachusetts	Springfield	13,548	22,294	236,200	398,800
Michigan	Bay City	9,312	11,467	106,400	162,600
Minnesota	St. Cloud	9,852	13,486	192,100	235,700
Mississippi	Gulfport-Biloxi	9,720	9,546	153,600	125,500
Missouri	Jefferson City	8,136	10,344	162,100	163,600
Montana	Great Falls	9,696	10,972	184,400	244,900
Nebraska	Lincoln	10,512	10,551	188,700	164,000
Nevada	Carson City	12,276	13,543	299,900	290,200
New Hampshire	Manchester-Nashua	15,768	15,267	287,900	272,300
New Jersey	Vineland-Bridgeton	16,236	19,811	166,400	343,500
New Mexico	Las Cruces	8,808	10,784	153,600	175,700
New York	Utica-Rome	9,552	20,092	127,000	325,000
North Carolina	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton	8,316	11,360	139,100	182,100
North Dakota	Fargo	10,476	10,236	225,600	199,900
Ohio	Mansfield	8,808	10,324	115,100	151,400
Oklahoma	Lawton	9,072	10,059	121,500	142,400
Oregon	Medford	12,468	15,607	294,500	336,700
Pennsylvania	Johnstown	8,688	12,412	94,900	187,500
Rhode Island	Providence-Warwick	13,776	14,502	290,500	276,600
South Carolina	Florence	9,708	11,096	125,100	170,100
South Dakota	Sioux Falls	10,488	9,670	208,400	174,600
Tennessee	Kingsport-Bristol	8,412	10,906	140,800	177,600
Texas	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	8,868	13,475	90,000	187,200
Utah	Logan	9,384	12,508	252,800	305,400
Vermont	Burlington-South Burlington	19,536	14,321	285,200	230,900
Virginia	Lynchburg	9,408	15,870	173,900	282,800
Washington	Spokane-Spokane Valley	12,084	17,824	243,000	366,800
West Virginia	Weirton-Steubenville	8,808	9,133	95,400	123,200
Wisconsin	Oshkosh-Neenah	9,108	10,970	158,400	189,200
Wyoming	Casper	10,416	10,423	215,400	228,000