In September 2026, renting a three-bedroom house in St. George, Utah costs between $1,995 and $2,168 a month depending on the rental site, and owning the median-priced home in Washington County costs about $3,062 a month before repairs. That is a $520,000 house bought with 20 percent down at last Thursday's 6.95 percent national average rate, with St. George property tax and a Utah-average insurance premium added in. So renting is cheaper month to month by roughly $1,000, and closer to $1,500 once you budget for maintenance. The longer answer is how many years it takes the buyer to catch up, and that depends almost entirely on one number nobody can promise you. Every input below is sourced and dated.
What it costs to rent a house in St. George, Utah right now
Both figures below are asking rents, not what tenants actually signed. Zumper's St. George rent research page, updated September 21, 2026, puts the average asking rent for a house at $1,995 and the median three-bedroom at $1,895. Apartments.com's St. George rent trends page, updated September 2026, puts a three-bedroom house at $2,168 and a four-bedroom house at $2,848, while its all-apartments average of $1,468 is weighted toward apartment complexes. Both sites show the last twelve months as roughly flat.
The federal anchor is steadier. HUD's Fair Market Rent for the St. George, Utah metro area, which is exactly Washington County, is $2,172 for a three-bedroom and $1,657 for a two-bedroom for fiscal year 2027, effective October 1, 2026. That is a 40th percentile gross rent including utilities, a little above a bare asking rent. In fiscal year 2021 the same figure was $1,388, so the three-bedroom benchmark is 56 percent higher than six years ago, and anyone modeling rent that stays flat forever is modeling something St. George has never done. For the rest of this article I use $2,000 a month as the rent, inside the verified range for a three-bedroom house. HUD publishes the full Fair Market Rent history on its data page.
What it costs to own the median home at 6.95 percent
Washington County's median sale price was $520,000 in August 2026, from the MLS market summary I pull every month. Zillow's home value index for St. George city was $517,705 as of August 31, 2026, down 0.8 percent over the year, so I use $520,000. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday, September 17, 2026 put the 30-year fixed average at 6.95 percent, up from 6.76 percent the week before and 6.26 percent a year ago. That national average assumes a conforming loan, 20 percent down and strong credit, so your quote will differ. The county figures live on my St. George market report page, and Freddie Mac posts the survey every Thursday. Read the market report. See the Freddie Mac survey.
Property tax comes from Washington County's posted 2026 tax rates: the St. George City tax area carries a combined rate of 0.006596, applied to 55 percent of market value because Utah's primary residential exemption removes 45 percent under Utah Code 59-2-103. On $520,000 that is $1,886 a year, or $157 a month. Insurance uses NerdWallet's Utah average of $1,810 a year, published March 16, 2026 for a $400,000 dwelling coverage limit, or $151 a month. Maintenance uses Fannie Mae's published guidance to budget 1 to 4 percent of the home's value per year, at the 1 percent end Fannie Mae ties to newer homes. The county's rate sheet is a one-page PDF, and my property tax calculator covers every tax area in the county. Open the county rate sheet. Open the property tax calculator.
| Monthly line item, September 2026 | Owner, 20 percent down | Owner, 10 percent down | Renter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal and interest at 6.95 percent (Freddie Mac, September 17, 2026) | $2,754 on a $416,000 loan | $3,098 on a $468,000 loan | $0 |
| Mortgage insurance (Freddie Mac: $30 to $70 per $100,000 borrowed, per month) | $0 | $140 to $328 | $0 |
| Property tax (St. George City tax area, 2026 rate, primary residence) | $157 | $157 | $0 |
| Homeowners insurance (Utah average, NerdWallet, March 16, 2026) | $151 | $151 | $0, renter's policy extra |
| Maintenance reserve (Fannie Mae, 1 percent of value per year) | $433 | $433 | $0 |
| Rent (three-bedroom house, $1,995 to $2,168 range, September 2026) | $0 | $0 | $2,000 |
| Total per month | $3,495 | $3,979 to $4,167 | $2,000 |
HOA dues are not in the table; they run from zero in older St. George neighborhoods to several hundred dollars a month in amenity communities, so add your own. The 10 percent down column is where many of the buyers I work with actually land, which puts their honest gap closer to $2,000 a month than $1,000.
The tax deduction most St. George buyers will never see
The mortgage interest deduction gets quoted as if it closes the gap. In the first year on a $416,000 loan at 6.95 percent you pay $28,778 in interest and $4,267 in principal, and your property tax is $1,886, so interest plus property tax comes to $30,664. The IRS standard deduction for tax year 2026 is $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly and $16,100 for a single filer, per IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. A married couple with no other itemized deductions gets nothing from owning this house, because the standard deduction they already had is bigger. A single buyer does itemize, and the roughly $14,500 above the standard deduction saves real money at their marginal rate. The higher state and local tax cap of $40,400 for 2026 changes nothing at a $1,886 property tax bill. The buyer does get principal paydown, averaging $356 a month in the first year. That is forced savings, but it is $356 against a $1,000 to $2,000 gap.
How long do you have to stay for buying to win?
I built a simple model with these assumptions. The buyer puts $104,000 down plus $1,891 in title, escrow and recording, which is what my closing cost calculator, built on First American Title's published Utah rate schedule, produces for a $500,000 purchase with a $400,000 loan before lender fees. The renter keeps that same $105,891 invested at 4 percent and also invests the monthly difference. Rent rises 3 percent a year, insurance 3 percent, property tax 2 percent, and maintenance stays at 1 percent of a rising home value. At sale I take 6 percent off the price for total selling costs, a round assumption covering title, escrow and whatever brokerage compensation gets negotiated, since Utah law does not set that figure. The owner wins in the year their equity after selling costs passes the renter's balance. The closing cost calculator is here if you want to check the $1,891.
At zero appreciation the owner never catches up inside 30 years. At 2 percent a year, also never. At 3 percent, the crossover comes in year 19. At 4 percent, close to Utah's pace over the last five years (the FHFA House Price Index for Utah rose 24.04 percent from the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2026, about 4.4 percent a year compounded), the crossover comes in year 8. At 5 percent it comes in year 5. That spread, from never to five years, is the whole answer. Buying versus renting in St. George at 6.95 percent is a bet on appreciation, and the last twelve months delivered the opposite: the Washington County median sale price fell 2.67 percent from August 2025 to August 2026, and FHFA has Utah up just 1.06 percent for the year ending June 2026. FHFA's second quarter 2026 release carries the state table.
Two other levers matter more than people expect. If the loan carried 5.5 percent instead of 6.95, through a buydown or a refinance, the 3 percent appreciation crossover moves from year 19 to year 8. If rents grow 5 percent a year instead of 3, it moves to year 12. Put a 5 percent down payment with mortgage insurance into the model and it slides out to year 27. Low down payments are how many first homes get bought here, and they are what makes renting win longest.
Where the math tilts back toward buying
None of this says do not buy. The median resale house at today's rate is a long-horizon decision, and the math comes out differently elsewhere in this market. A lower price point changes everything, because the rent side does not fall as fast as the price side: Apartments.com's September 2026 figures put a three-bedroom townhome in St. George at $1,889 a month and a three-bedroom condo at $1,824 against $2,168 for a house. My St. George condos and townhomes page pulls current asking prices live from the MLS. Browse condos and townhomes. New construction is the other place: in my experience this year, Washington County builders have been offering rate buydowns on spec inventory, and a buydown into the mid fives is the 5.5 percent scenario above. My St. George new construction page covers who is building where. See new construction.
First-time buyers face a different cash-to-close picture through Utah Housing's FirstHome program and the state's $20,000 new-construction assistance, which I covered in a separate article. Read the first-time home buyer programs article. And someone selling a home elsewhere to move here is choosing between a house and a large brokerage balance, so the 4 percent I assumed the renter earns is the number to interrogate.
What renting in Utah does and does not protect you from
The renter's advantage above assumed rent grows 3 percent a year, and nothing in Utah law enforces that. Utah has no rent control and cities cannot pass it: Utah Code 57-20-1 says a county, city or town may not enact an ordinance or resolution that would control rents or fees on private residential property unless it has the express approval of the Legislature. Washington County added 4,751 people in the year to July 1, 2025 according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute's December 2025 estimates, with net migration accounting for 4,146 of them, and that demand reaches rents over time even when a single year is flat. The buyer's principal and interest is fixed for 30 years, and that line is 79 percent of the owner's total in the table. Renters do have protection on the way out: Utah Code 57-17-3 requires the landlord to return the deposit balance with an itemized list of deductions within 30 days after the renter moves out and returns possession. Read the lease for its renewal terms, because the law will not set your rent.
What I tell people who ask me this
I have watched this answer flip more than once in thirteen years here. In 2021, with Freddie Mac's 30-year average at or near 3 percent for most of the year, the payment on a mid-priced house here ran close to its rent. Today renting is cheaper on cash flow by a wide margin, and I say so to buyers, because the ones who buy anyway should know the number. What I will not tell you is that rents stay flat, that appreciation is guaranteed to return to 4 percent, or that rates are about to drop. The Federal Reserve raised its target range a quarter point to 3.75 to 4.00 percent on September 16, 2026, and the 30-year average rose 19 basis points in the survey released the next day. Nobody selling you a house or a lease knows where that goes. Most people start with my St. George homes for sale search, and my selling page covers the other side of the question. Search homes for sale. Read the selling page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to rent or buy a house in St. George, Utah in 2026?
Yes, renting is cheaper month to month as of September 2026. A three-bedroom house rents for about $1,995 to $2,168, while owning the $520,000 Washington County median with 20 percent down at Freddie Mac's 6.95 percent average runs $3,062 a month for principal, interest, property tax and insurance, and about $3,495 with a 1 percent maintenance reserve. Buying only wins over time, and how much time depends mostly on appreciation.
What is the average rent for a house in St. George, Utah?
About $2,000 a month for a three-bedroom house in September 2026. Zumper reports an average house rent of $1,995 and a median three-bedroom rent of $1,895 as of September 21, 2026, and Apartments.com reports $2,168 for a three-bedroom house in its September 2026 update. HUD's fiscal year 2027 Fair Market Rent for a three-bedroom in the St. George metro area is $2,172 including utilities, effective October 1, 2026.
How much are property taxes on a $520,000 home in St. George, Utah?
About $1,886 a year, or $157 a month, for a primary residence. Washington County's posted 2026 rate for the St. George City tax area is 0.006596, applied to 55 percent of market value after Utah's 45 percent primary residential exemption under Utah Code 59-2-103. A second home or rental loses that exemption and pays on 100 percent of value, about $3,430 a year at the same price.
Does Utah have rent control?
No. Utah Code 57-20-1 prohibits any county, city or town from enacting an ordinance or resolution that controls rents or fees on private residential property unless the Legislature expressly approves it. Your rent at renewal is whatever the lease says.
How long do you need to stay in a St. George home for buying to beat renting?
It depends on appreciation more than anything else. With $2,000 rent rising 3 percent a year, a $520,000 purchase at 6.95 percent with 20 percent down, and the renter earning 4 percent on the cash they did not spend, my model shows the owner ahead in year 8 at 4 percent annual appreciation, year 19 at 3 percent, and never within 30 years at 2 percent or less. A lower rate or purchase price pulls those years in sharply.
Did mortgage rates go up after the Fed's September 2026 meeting?
Yes, in the same week. The Federal Open Market Committee raised the federal funds target range by a quarter point to 3.75 to 4.00 percent on September 16, 2026 by a 12 to 0 vote, and Freddie Mac's survey released the next day put the 30-year fixed average at 6.95 percent, up from 6.76 percent a week earlier. Mortgage rates follow the bond market, not the Fed's rate directly.
Run your own numbers with me
Every figure here carries a source and a date, and every model assumption is written out so you can change it. To run it on a specific house, a specific rent and your actual down payment, call or text me at 435-200-5508. You can also send me a message through my contact form. I have sold real estate in St. George, Utah for 13 years, and I would rather tell you to keep renting than watch you buy on a slogan.