Research / Rent vs. buy / Florida / St. Petersburg

Rent or buy in St. Petersburg?
Renting is $574 a month cheaper.

Renting the typical home in St. Petersburg costs $574 less a month than owning it. Counting equity, price growth and what a renter could earn by investing the difference, buying comes out ahead in year 8.

Updated November 12, 2026 · Zillow data for September 2026 · 7.11% mortgage rate (Freddie Mac, November 12, 2026) · Rank 49 of 339 (1 = owning closest to renting) · Part of our 2026 rent vs. buy study

Monthly cost to own$2,613typical home, 20% down
Typical monthly rent$2,039Zillow, September 2026
Buying breaks evenYear 83.5% price growth
Cash needed to buy$80,928$351,862 home · 20% down + 3% closing
Income needed to own$104,520vs. $81,560 to rent · 30% rule

Where the monthly money goes.

The first-month cost of owning the typical St. Petersburg home, split into its parts, against the typical rent. About $226 of the first mortgage payment is principal, which you keep as equity.

The median household income in St. Petersburg is $75,192 (Census ACS 2020–2024). Owning the typical home would take 42% of it; renting would take 33%.

As a check with a larger rental, HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rent for a three-bedroom home in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA area is $2,448 a month, still $165 below the cost of owning.

  • Mortgage principal & interest $1,894
  • Property tax $195
  • Home insurance $232
  • Maintenance $293

How long you would need to stay.

Net worth of a buyer compared with a renter who invests the down payment, closing costs and any monthly savings at 6% a year. Home values and rents grow 3.5% a year; selling costs 6%.

Change the assumptions

Buying vs. renting in St. Petersburg, by years in the home
StayResult
3 yearsRenting ahead by $23,214
5 yearsRenting ahead by $14,955
7 yearsRenting ahead by $4,163
10 yearsBuying ahead by $17,753
15 yearsBuying ahead by $74,146
20 yearsBuying ahead by $165,082
30 yearsBuying ahead by $517,785

Rent or buy elsewhere in Florida.

Other large Florida cities in the study.

All cities
JacksonvilleRenting $589/mo cheaperMiamiRenting $1,325/mo cheaperTampaRenting $879/mo cheaperOrlandoRenting $913/mo cheaperPort St. LucieRenting $574/mo cheaperHialeahRenting $857/mo cheaperCape CoralRenting $596/mo cheaperTallahasseeRenting $778/mo cheaper

More on St. Petersburg

See the full St. Petersburg rental market profile with Census medians, or check how a typical rental performs for an investor in our cash-flow ranking.

How we calculated this

Price is the Zillow Home Value Index and rent the Zillow Observed Rent Index for St. Petersburg. The cost of owning includes principal and interest at 7.11% with 20% down, property tax at the city's 0.66% effective rate (Census ACS), the Florida average homeowners premium (NAIC 2023) and 1% yearly maintenance. It leaves out income-tax effects, HOA dues and utilities. The typical rental may be smaller than the typical home for sale. Full methodology. This is a citywide estimate, not advice about a specific home.