A consumer finance website has ranked Benicia 16th among 65 cities in the San Francisco Bay Area for those who prefer to rent instead of buy.

“It’s no secret or surprise anymore that residing in the Bay Area can be a nightmare in terms of affordability,” said Christine Kim, spokesperson for NerdWallet, the website that said Benicia had a price-to-rent ratio of 19.3.

That means it’s 19.3 times cheaper to rent in Benicia than purchase a home, Kim said — in fact, 31.3 percent of Benicians rent rather than own their residences.

Kim said the Bay Area has a strong job market. In addition, it has a consistent flow of tech and pharmaceutical companies becoming established here.

Those factors drive up home cost rates, she said.

Topping the list of renter-friendly cities is Palo Alto, home of Stanford University and technology professionals. Kim said that city’s housing stock “skews toward renters,” and 44.6 percent of housing is considered rental, especially since data from the Zillow real estate website said the median home price in 2013 was $2 million.

The second-place city, Cupertino, considered one of the most affluent Silicon Valley cities, still has a price-to-rent ratio of 20.61, making it better to rent than to buy.

Rounding out the top 10 are Los Gatos, Sunnyvale, Burlingame, Menlo Park, Campbell, Santa Clara, Fremont and Dublin.

Coming in ahead of Benicia were Foster City, Saratoga, Lafayette, Pleasanton and Belmont. Completing the top 20 were Los Altos, Alameda, San Carlos and Berkeley.

Cities in San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Sonoma and Marin counties were researched for the study, Kim said.

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