It seems like this is saying that of the people who choose to rent a house, they pay less per month in housing costs than those people who choose to buy a house

It seems like this is saying that of the people who choose to rent a house, they pay less per month in housing costs than those people who choose to buy a house. So there isn't an accounting for the difference in houses that people want to rent vs. those who want to buy. What I think the headline is implying is that you can rent a comparable house (size, location, upkeep, etc.) for considerably less than owning that same house. Which I don't think is what the data is saying. https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/comparing-rent-vs-owning-a-home-in-nations-largest-metros/#new-york-has-largest-percentage-gap https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/comparing-rent-vs-...