Phoenix suburbs are quietly undergoing a change as thousands of new renter households have moved in over just five years — signaling that the traditional city-suburb divide is starting to blur.

The latest Point2Homes analysis of U.S. Census datareveals how rising housing costs and shifting lifestyle preferences are driving renter growth deep into suburban areas, even in metros like Phoenix that haven’t yet seen a renter-majority flip.

Key Phoenix Suburbs Highlights:

• Glendale is the closest Phoenix suburb to reaching renter-majority status, with renter households now making up 42.4% of all households.

• Peoria added the most renter households in the metro — 2,374 over five years — followed by Goodyear, which gained 1,687 new renter households during the same period.

• Sun Lakes recorded the fastest renter growth in the region, with a 41.3% increase in renter households in just five years. Saddlebrooke (up 39.3%) and Eloy (up 34.7%) also saw significant growth.

• Broader national trend: In the 20 largest U.S. metros, more than 200 suburbs are now renter-majority — including 15 that flipped from owner- to renter-majority over the same five-year period.

In America’s 20 largest metros there are nearly 1,500 suburbs with a population higher than 10,000. According to a recent analysis of U.S. Census data, 203 suburbs across these metropolitan areas are now renter-majority. In other words, more people lease their homes than own them in these communities. This change shows that the line between city and suburb continues to blur.