Rent vs Buy Calculator
See whether renting or buying builds more wealth, factoring mortgage, taxes, upkeep, appreciation, rent growth, and investing the difference.
Real-World Scenario Presets
Home Purchase
Renting
Comparison & Investing
How long you'll stay and what your down payment could earn if invested instead.
Estimates only and not financial advice. Results depend on the assumptions you enter, and appreciation, investment returns, and rent growth are all uncertain. Figures are pre-tax; the model holds insurance and HOA flat while property tax and maintenance scale with home value, and it does not model mortgage-interest or property-tax deductions.
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Should You Rent or Buy? Compare the Real Numbers
Whether to rent or buy a home is one of the biggest money decisions you will make, and the honest answer is that it depends. This calculator settles it the way financial planners do: instead of comparing rent to a mortgage payment, it projects the total wealth each path builds over the years you plan to stay, counting every ownership cost, home appreciation, rising rent, and the money a renter could invest instead. You get a clear verdict, the year buying breaks even, and a net-worth-over-time chart.
How the Rent vs Buy Decision Really Works
Comparing rent to a mortgage payment is misleading, because a mortgage payment builds equity while rent does not, but owning also carries costs renting never does: property tax, insurance, maintenance, and the closing and selling costs that can total 8 to 10 percent of the price round-trip. The fair comparison holds both people to the same monthly housing budget. The buyer sinks the down payment into the home, while the renter invests that same money plus any month the mortgage costs more than rent. After the years you plan to stay, whoever has the higher net worth (the buyer's home equity after selling costs, or the renter's investment portfolio) comes out ahead. This is the opportunity-cost approach used by the New York Times calculator and financial economists.
Net Worth Comparison
Net Worth (Buy) = Home Value − Loan Balance − Selling Costs + Side Investments; Net Worth (Rent) = Invested Down Payment + Invested Monthly Savings, grown at your return rateHow to Compare Renting vs Buying
Enter the home price and your down payment percentage.
Set the mortgage rate and term, then property tax, insurance, maintenance, and any HOA.
Enter your current monthly rent and expected annual rent increase.
Choose how many years you plan to stay in the home.
Set the return you would expect if you invested the down payment and monthly savings instead.
Read the verdict, the break-even year, and the net-worth-over-time chart.
Common Use Cases
First-Time Buyers
See how long you must stay for buying to pay off versus continuing to rent.
Relocating for Work
Decide whether to buy or rent in a new city based on how long you expect to stay.
High-Cost Markets
Test whether renting and investing the difference beats an expensive purchase.
Financial Planning
Model different scenarios to see the long-run wealth impact of a housing choice.
Why Use Our Rent vs Buy Calculator?
Net Worth, Not Payment vs Rent
Compares the wealth each path builds instead of a misleading monthly-payment matchup.
Counts the Opportunity Cost
Invests your down payment and monthly savings at your chosen return, the way renters actually build wealth.
Finds Your Break-Even Year
Pinpoints when buying overtakes renting, so a short-timeline move is not a costly mistake.
Every Cost, Both Sides
Property tax, insurance, maintenance, HOA, closing and selling costs, rent growth, and appreciation.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on how long you will stay, the local price-to-rent ratio, and what you could earn investing the difference. This calculator compares the ending net worth of each path, so you see which builds more wealth for your specific situation rather than relying on the myth that renting is throwing money away.
That is your break-even year, shown in the results. For typical markets it is often about 4 to 7 years. Short stays usually favor renting because the closing and selling costs of a home (roughly 8 to 10 percent round-trip) need time to be recovered through equity and appreciation.
It is the home price divided by one year of rent. As a rule of thumb, a ratio at or below 15 favors buying, 21 or higher favors renting, and 16 to 20 is a gray zone. The calculator shows your ratio and what it implies alongside the full net-worth comparison.
It is a quick estimate that the unrecoverable annual cost of owning is about 5 percent of the home's value: roughly 1 percent property tax, 1 percent maintenance, and 3 percent cost of capital. If a year of rent is less than 5 percent of the purchase price, renting is likely cheaper. This tool runs the full month-by-month math instead of the shortcut.
No, the figures are pre-tax. The mortgage-interest deduction only helps if you itemize, which most households no longer do since the 2017 standard deduction increase, and the SALT cap limits the property-tax deduction. For most people the tax benefit of owning is small or zero, so leaving it out keeps the comparison honest.
A common assumption is 6 to 7 percent per year for a diversified stock portfolio, before inflation. Use a lower figure to be conservative. A higher expected return favors renting and investing, while a lower return favors buying, so it is worth testing a range.