No. 8 Best City to Rent: San Diego

Price-to-rent ratio: 20
Avg. cost to rent 2br: $1,669
Avg. cost to buy 2br: $396,408

Why: San Diego is still a renter’s market, but a first-quarter report by local commercial real estate broker BRE Commercial shows the gap between the cost to rent and the cost to buy narrowing since 2007, when home prices started to drop. Recently, prices in San Diego have been rebounding—the median sale price shot up 14.5 percent, to $315,000, in the February to April period, according to Trulia.

In photo: 2120 Mission Avenue; Rent: $1,190; Beds: 2; Baths: 2; Size: 900 sq. ft.