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Rent vs. Buy Calculator

Compare the long-run cost of renting vs. owning a comparable home.

Project the total cost of renting vs. buying over your planned stay, including mortgage interest, maintenance, home appreciation, and the opportunity cost of investing the down payment instead.

Nadia Almasri By Nadia Almasri
Published Last reviewed 1 min read

Inputs

$
%
%
years
years
$
%
%
%

Results

Enter values and click Calculate to see results.
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How to use this calculator

  1. Fill in the inputs above using the units you already have.
  2. Values update automatically as you type — no submit button needed.
  3. Hover any result row for the underlying formula and intermediate values.

Formula

Buy total = down payment + (mortgage payment × months) + recurring ownership costs − terminal home equity. Rent total = sum of monthly rent (with growth) − the investment value the down payment could have earned.

In depth

Project the total cost of renting vs. buying over your planned stay, including mortgage interest, maintenance, home appreciation, and the opportunity cost of investing the down payment instead.

Frequently asked questions

A renter could invest that money instead. To make the comparison fair, we credit the rent side with the growth that lump sum could have produced.