Atlanta, Kansas City, Colorado Springs, Omaha, and Raleigh: Moving to America's 36th Through 40th Largest Cities

“Only the lease holder can apply for services.” That rule, from the start service page of the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, is one of the details this guide sets out for these five cities, alongside a state’s deposit limits, a utility’s processing time, and the price figures that separate the five metros. In the population estimates the Census Bureau published for July 1, 2025, Atlanta ranks 36th, Kansas City, Missouri, 37th, Raleigh 39th, and Colorado Springs 40th, with Mesa, Arizona, in 38th place. Omaha ranks 42nd, outside the range in this title, and it is the only one of the five with fewer residents in 2025 than in the April 2020 base.

City	Rank, 2025	Population, July 1, 2025	Change since April 2020	Metro price level, 2024 (US = 100)	Metro housing rents, 2024 (US = 100)	Metro utilities, 2023 (US = 100)
Atlanta	36	529,110	up 30,305	100.1	111.0	98.1
Kansas City, Missouri	37	521,220	up 13,208	92.5	86.6	92.0
Colorado Springs	40	494,743	up 14,780	100.7	116.2	79.6
Omaha	42	488,797	down 3,070	91.9	86.4	81.3
Raleigh	39	506,306	up 38,204	98.2	103.5	84.4

The three price columns come from the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities and describe the metro area around each city: the price level and housing columns are for 2024, from the agency’s February 2026 release as listed in the St. Louis Fed’s metro table, and the utilities column is for 2023, from Table 4 of its December 2024 release, which makes it a ranking from an earlier year, not a same-year bill comparison with the other columns. Two of these metros cross a state line: BEA’s Kansas City area spans Missouri and Kansas, and its Omaha area spans Nebraska and Iowa. A home on the other side of that line is in a different state, with that state’s tenant and vehicle rules.

Atlanta: Bring the Signed Lease to Open the Water Account

Before preparing anything for Atlanta’s water department, find out whether you will have an account at all. The start service page says some addresses inside the service area are served through a master meter, and that those residents may not be able to set up a water account; the management of the apartment complex, condominium association, or homeowners association can tell you which applies.

If you will have your own account, the department asks renters for paperwork that only exists once the lease is signed. Its start service page lists, for rental customers, a completed New Service Application, a current lease agreement that includes the terms page and signature page, a valid government-issued ID, and a deposit of $80, which the page says varies with meter size, plus a $15 account establishment fee. The department adds that it does not accept sub-leases. If you apply online or by fax, the fees and deposit are included on your first bill; if you apply in person, they are due at the time of application. The page also lists issues that may delay service, among them an expired driver’s license or ID and outstanding utility bills on the property.

Atlanta added 30,305 residents between April 2020 and July 2025, the second-largest gain of these five, after a dip in 2021 and growth every year since. Its metro priced just above the national level overall in 2024, at 100.1, with housing rents at 111.0, and it had the highest utilities figure of the five in 2023, 98.1.

Kansas City: What Missouri’s Deposit Rules Allow

The first check in the Kansas City area is the state on your lease. BEA’s Kansas City metro spans Missouri and Kansas, and the deposit rules below are Missouri’s, so they apply to an apartment in Kansas City, Missouri, and not to one across the state line in Kansas. The Missouri Attorney General’s guide to Missouri’s landlord-tenant law, revised in January 2023, says, “Under Missouri law, a landlord cannot charge more than two months’ rent as a security deposit.” At the end of the lease, according to the guide, the landlord has 30 days to return the deposit with an itemized list of any damages for which part of it is kept, must give reasonable notice of when the move-out inspection will take place, and the tenant has the right to be present for it.

Three more points from the guide affect how you plan the end of a lease. “The tenant may not use the security deposit to pay the last month’s rent.” And the guide tells tenants to give the landlord a forwarding address in writing, because otherwise the landlord may not be able to send the deposit. If a landlord wrongfully withholds all or part of a deposit, the guide says, the tenant may sue to recover up to twice the amount wrongfully withheld.

Kansas City grew every year from 2020 to 2025, by 13,208 residents in all. Its metro priced at 92.5 overall and 86.6 for housing rents in 2024.

Colorado Springs: The Highest Rent Figure Here, and a Three-Day Application

Colorado Springs pairs an overall price level close to the national one with the highest housing figure in this group. Its metro priced at 100.7 overall in 2024, the highest overall figure here by a small margin, but at 116.2 for housing rents, above Atlanta’s 111.0 and Raleigh’s 103.5. For a household whose largest expense is rent, that housing figure, not the overall one, is the number to plan around.

Utility setup has a lead time too. Colorado Springs Utilities says on its start, stop, or move page that new customers apply through the Start Service page in My Account, and that “Applications can take up to three days to complete and are prioritized by start date.” The application asks for the name and Social Security number of the main contact on the account, the names of anyone else on the account, the new service address, any separate mailing address, and the requested start date. Those three days are the time to complete the application, not a connection date, so submit it at least three days before the start date you request.

Colorado Springs also had the lowest utilities figure of the five metros in 2023, 79.6, and the city grew every year from 2020 to 2025, by 14,780 residents.

Omaha: The Lowest Price Levels in the Group

Omaha is the one city here that lost residents. The Census table shows 491,867 in the April 2020 base and 488,797 on July 1, 2025, a drop of 3,070, with a low point in 2023 and a small rebound in 2024 before a slight decline in 2025. That puts it 42nd, two places below the range named in this guide’s title.

On price, the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro had the lowest overall price level of these five in 2024, 91.9, and the lowest housing rents figure, 86.4, just below Kansas City’s 86.6, with utilities at 81.3 in 2023. As its name says, the metro includes Council Bluffs, Iowa, so a search that includes Council Bluffs is also a choice between Nebraska and Iowa rules.

Raleigh: Five Business Days for a New Water Account

Raleigh’s water utility states its processing time in business days. Raleigh Water’s start, stop, or transfer page says, “Allow five business days to process your new service request.” It verifies every new customer’s identity through an online service; if that check fails, the account holder must come in person to 222 W. Hargett Street during normal business hours with two forms of identification and the lease, rental agreement, or closing documents. New accounts pay a $50 service initiation fee per meter, and new customers pay a $90 deposit. If you have had service at the address before, the page asks you to contact customer care before entering the request.

One instruction on the page belongs on move-in day itself: before service is connected, make sure all faucets are turned off and sink and tub stoppers are open, to prevent accidental flooding.

Raleigh had the largest gain of the five, 38,204 residents between 2020 and 2025, and its July estimate rose every year from 2021 to 2025. Its metro priced at 98.2 overall and 103.5 for housing rents in 2024.

How to Weigh Rent, Lead Time, and the State Line

These five cities are close in size, between 488,797 and 529,110 residents, so the differences that should drive a choice lie elsewhere. First, rent: the 2024 metro housing figures run from 86.4 around Omaha to 116.2 around Colorado Springs, a wider spread than the overall price levels, which run from 91.9 to 100.7. Second, lead time: Raleigh asks for five business days to process a new water account and Colorado Springs Utilities up to three days for an application, while Atlanta’s water department needs a signed lease before it will open an account for a renter. Third, the state line: in the Kansas City and Omaha metros, the address you choose decides which state’s rules you live under, and the Missouri Attorney General’s deposit guide applies only on the Missouri side.