The best city for renters isn't cheap — but its quality of life is top-tier. See what metros made the top 10.

2 hours ago 1

Washington, DC, tops RentCafe's list of most livable metros for 2026.
Portland, Maine dropped to second place after topping the list last year.
Midwest metros dominate RentCafe's top 10 livable areas, surpassing other regions.

Owning a home is the goal for many, but sometimes, it's smarter financially to rent. Plus, without being tied down by a mortgage, renters have the flexibility to decide where to live every 12 months.

Apartment search website RentCafe analyzed 149 metropolitan areas with at least 300,000 residents to make that decision easier. The site factored in 17 metrics across three key categories — location and community, quality of life, and socioeconomics — to rank which metros were the most livable.

The South, which has gained a reputation for convincing Northerners to switch teams, has tapered off in popularity, with only one Southern metropolitan area making the top 10, while the Midwest edged out other regions with the most metros on the list. No state had multiple entries in the top 10.

Last year's first-place finisher, Portland, Maine, dropped a spot this year but still ranks high for location and community, as well as quality of life.

The nation's capital overtook Portland, Maine, for the top spot after climbing from seventh the previous year. Washington, DC, ranked toward the bottom in the socioeconomic category (weighted 20%), due to its high cost of living, but first in both location and community and quality of life (weighted 40% each).

See what other metropolitan areas made RentCafe's top 10.