Foothold: Rent-vs-Own Screening Data for 83 U.S. Metros (2026)

The dataset behind Van to Vault's Foothold screen: 83 U.S. metros with the inputs used to test where buying a small two-to-four unit property beats renting for a first-time, owner-occupant buyer. 23,424 two-to-four unit listings were screened across the 83 metros and 11,495 survived every livability and financing test. On the metro-level figures those survivors produce, 11 metros clear the affordability bar at a 6.66% mortgage rate.

Data as of 2026-08-06. One row per metro: entry price (25th-percentile surviving listing), typical price, surviving listing count, kept-per-month versus renting, keep ratio, rank, Foothold score, and three sub-pillar scores (entry, cashflow, durability). Metros that did not clear the metro-level affordability test have null rank and score fields but keep their listing-level stats, so the file also works as a broader 83-metro pricing reference.