Rent vs buy calculator.

Compare the full cost of renting with the full cost of owning over the years you plan to stay. Owning counts the payments, the costs of buying and selling, and what your down payment could have earned, minus the equity you walk away with.

Renting
Buying

Example: 7.40% is the 30-year fixed Freddie Mac average for the week of Oct 15, 2026. The loan is a 30-year fixed.

Nobody can predict this. Try 0% and 5% to see how much it moves the answer.

Your plans
More assumptionsTaxes, insurance, upkeep, PMI, buying and selling costs, investment return

Taxes and upkeep are a yearly percent of the home's value, so they grow as the home does.

PMI applies with less than 20% down and stops when the balance reaches 78% of the price. The investment return is what your down payment and closing costs could earn if you kept renting.

Percents of the price. Freddie Mac estimates buyers' closing costs at about 2% to 5% of the purchase price. Selling costs cover agent commissions and fees, which vary by market.

Renting or buying over 7 years

Cost of renting

$202,289

Net cost of buying

$250,238

  • Renting$202,289
  • Buying, after what you keep when you sell$250,238

Renting costs about $47,949 less over 7 years in this scenario. Buying comes out ahead if you stay 13 years or longer.

Owning, monthly in year 1$3,716.69
Cash to buy (down payment and closing costs)$55,250
Owning payments over 7 years$318,114
What that cash could have earned$17,455
What you keep after selling$140,581
Buying comes out ahead fromYear 13

These figures are estimates for planning only. The model leaves out income taxes, renters insurance and the return a renter could earn on any monthly savings. See our disclosures.

How this is calculated

The calculator adds up every dollar each choice costs over your stay, month by month, then subtracts what owning gives back when you sell.

  • Cost of renting

    rent × 12, rising by the rent increase once a year, for each year you stay

    $2,200 a month rising 3% a year comes to $202,289 over 7 years.

  • Net cost of buying

    down payment + closing costs + all monthly costs + forgone earnings − what you keep after selling

    Monthly costs are principal and interest on a 30-year fixed loan, property tax, insurance, upkeep, HOA dues and PMI. Forgone earnings are what the down payment and closing costs would have grown to at the investment return. What you keep is the sale price, minus selling costs, minus the loan balance left.

  • When buying comes out ahead

    the first whole year in which the net cost of buying is less than the cost of renting

    The calculator reruns the comparison for every stay from 1 to 30 years.

  • Values grow once a year. The home's value, and with it the tax and upkeep, steps up by your growth rate each year; rent steps up by the rent increase.
  • PMI follows the CFPB's 78% rule. It is charged on the original loan amount until the scheduled balance reaches 78% of the purchase price.
  • No income taxes. The mortgage interest deduction only helps people who itemize (IRS Publication 936).

For a closer look at the monthly payment on a home, use the mortgage payment calculator, or see what price fits your income with the home affordability calculator.

Sources

  • Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey: 30-year fixed 7.40%, week of October 15, 2026.
  • Freddie Mac My Home, “Budgeting for upfront homebuying costs” and “Breaking down PMI” (accessed October 22, 2026).
  • CFPB, “When can I remove private mortgage insurance (PMI) from my loan?” (last reviewed August 28, 2026).
  • IRS Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction.

Last reviewed October 22, 2026.

Questions about renting vs buying

Is renting throwing money away?

No more than some costs of owning are. Rent pays for a place to live. Owning also has costs you never get back: mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, upkeep, and the fees to buy and later sell. What owning adds is equity from paying down the loan and any rise in the home's value. This calculator counts both sides.

How long should I stay for buying to make sense?

It depends on prices, rates and rents where you live. Buying has large one-time costs at the start and the end, and early payments are mostly interest, so short stays usually favor renting and long stays favor buying. The calculator finds the first year in which buying costs less for your numbers.

Does the mortgage interest deduction change the answer?

Only if you itemize. The IRS lets you deduct home mortgage interest on Schedule A, so it helps only when your itemized deductions are larger than your standard deduction. IRS Publication 936 explains the limits. This calculator leaves taxes out, which can make owning look slightly more expensive for people who itemize.

What should I use for home price growth?

Nobody can predict it, and it moves the result more than almost any other input. Try a low, middle and high case, such as 0%, 3% and 5% a year, and see whether the answer changes. If buying only wins at the high end, the decision rests on prices rising.

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