Free Housing Calculator

Can you afford to buy — or is renting smarter?

This free calculator does the math for you so you can make the biggest financial decision of your life with your eyes wide open.

Get Started →

Hey there! If you're reading this, give yourself a pat on the back — you deserve it! You care enough about your future that you're willing to do a little research into what is likely the biggest financial decision of your life.

Don't worry — I did my best to make this as user-friendly as possible, especially for those who consider themselves allergic to math. All the calculations are done for you.

Before you dive in, I'd highly recommend the dropdowns below — there's some important context that'll help you get the most out of this tool.

When you're ready, hit "Get Started" and let's crunch some numbers!

Things to Keep in Mind — The Big Picture ▼

Quick disclaimer: I'm no professional finance coach — just a regular person who wanted to make informed financial decisions and is also kind of a nerd. 🤓 Take this for what it is: a tool to help you think, not professional financial advice.

Buying vs. renting is your call to make. Everyone's situation is totally unique. Do not make a six-figure decision based on anyone's advice without running the numbers for yourself.

💡 Hint: This calculator loves a good run, especially where numbers are involved.

Renting doesn't mean you're throwing money away. Don't believe what they tell you! Homeowners also "throw away" money — tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to things like interest, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. The real question isn't "am I throwing money away?" — it's "what does each option actually cost me, and what do I get for it?" You've got to crunch the numbers for your situation.

💡 Hint: Numbers are this calculator's favorite crunchy snack.

A primary home is not a great investment — but that's okay. Compared to other long-term investments, a primary residence is actually a pretty poor performer. Home values tend to grow at roughly the rate of inflation, so a home is better described as a means of building savings than a true investment. And it's not worth locking yourself into a mortgage you can't afford just to open what is effectively a savings account. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't buy — it just means you should go in with your financial eyes wide open. Again, you've gotta live somewhere.

Note: This doesn't apply to real estate investing, which is a totally different ballgame. This calculator only covers your primary residence — the home you're going to live in.

If renting costs less, consider saving the difference. Often, your monthly rent will be less than what it costs to own and operate a home. If that's the case, putting the money you save by renting into other long-term savings options — like High Yield Savings Accounts, Money Market Accounts, or Index Funds — means you're still building your financial future. Depending on your situation, you might even come out ahead compared to a homeowner selling their house. But this isn't black and white: if renting is so expensive you have nothing left over to save, buying might actually be the better option. And if you know you'd struggle to maintain a savings habit while renting, buying a home gives you forced savings in the form of home equity — which isn't nothing.

This analysis is purely financial. There are real non-monetary reasons to prefer renting or buying — stability, flexibility, community, the ability to make a space your own. This calculator won't capture those. Keep them in mind when making your decision.

A note on how the renting vs. buying comparison works. This calculator assumes you'll save the difference between what you'd spend renting vs. owning each month. For example, if renting costs $1,500/month and owning would cost $2,000/month, the comparison assumes you'd put that $500/month into savings. If you'd rather see what happens if you don't save the difference — or save less than the full amount — you can adjust or zero out those inputs in the Renting & Saving section of this calculator.

💡 Hint: This calculator is very determined to help you determine how much it might cost you to own that home. 😄

Additional Resources ▼

Buying vs. Renting

Long-term renting

A perspective on the long-term renting lifestyle

Total cost of home ownership

Feedback & Suggestions ▼

This calculator is a free, open resource. If you have feedback, a bug to report, an idea for improvement, or want to share how this page has helped you, the best way to share it is via GitHub Discussions — that way others can see, vote on, and build on your ideas too.

Share feedback on GitHub →

Not a GitHub user? You can also submit feedback via this Google Form.

Step 1

Property Info

Tell us about the home you're considering buying.

The Home

Home Purchase Price

$

Home prices in your area

Down Payment

%

How much should a down payment be?

Interest Rate

%

What are current interest rates?

Loan Term

30 years 15 years

Down Payment

—

Loan Amount

—

Monthly Payment
—

Upfront Costs

Moving & Furnishing

$

Don't forget — you may need to furnish the new place too.

What do moving costs typically look like?

Purchase Closing Costs

2% 3% 4% 5%

Closing costs typically run 2–5% of the loan amount. 2% is a reasonable starting estimate — your lender can give you a more precise figure.

—

Total Upfront Cash Needed

—

Total upfront cash includes your down payment, closing costs, moving costs, and two months of mortgage payments held in reserve.

Step 2

Ongoing Costs

The recurring costs of owning this home.

These really are all the costs of owning a home. I know, it's a lot. 🫣

Housing Costs

Gross Property Tax Rate

%

The gross tax rate is something you should look up for the zip code you're interested in. It's often much higher than just the base property tax, accounting for things like school districts, townships, and counties. This number is often shown with listings on sites like Zillow.

HOA Fees

$ /mo

What are HOA fees?

Homeowner's Insurance

$ /yr

How much does homeowner's insurance cost?

Maintenance & Other Costs

$ /yr

The average homeowner spends 1–2% of their home's value on maintenance each year. It's easy to underestimate this one — even a "perfect" home needs upkeep. We've pre-filled this with 2% of your purchase price as a starting estimate, but feel free to adjust.

What does home maintenance actually cost?

Utilities

Not sure what to expect? These will vary by location, home size, and season. Your current utility bills are a reasonable starting point.

Electric

$ /mo

Water

$ /mo

Other Utilities (gas, etc.)

$ /mo

These defaults are based on long-run US averages. You're welcome to adjust them, but most users won't need to.

Inflation Rate

%

Used to estimate how costs like insurance, maintenance, and utilities will grow over time. 3% is the long-run US average.

Annual Home Value Appreciation

%

How much your home's value is expected to grow per year. Historically, home values track inflation over the long run.

Sale Closing Costs

%

The estimated cost to sell your home — agent commissions, title fees, and other closing costs. 8% is a realistic estimate for most US markets.

How long do you plan to stay?

yrs

This sets the timeline for the entire analysis. We'll compare what buying vs. renting would cost you over this period. Not sure? 7–10 years is a common planning horizon for first-time buyers.

Step 3

Renting & Saving

Tell us about your rental situation and what you'd do with the money you save by renting.

Renting Costs

Monthly Rent

$ /mo

Rental prices near you (Zillow) Rental prices near you (Apartments.com)

Security Deposit

$

Typically one month's rent. Enter $0 if you're already renting and won't be paying a new deposit.

Renters Insurance

$ /yr

How much does renters insurance cost?

Moving Costs

$

Enter $0 if you're comparing buying to staying in your current rental.

What do moving costs typically look like?

Utilities

Not sure what to expect? Your current utility bills are a reasonable starting point.

Electric

$ /mo

Water

$ /mo

Other Utilities (gas, etc.)

$ /mo

Savings Parameters

Prior Savings Value

$

If you already have money in a savings or investment account, enter the current value here. This gets added to your initial deposit and grows alongside your contributions over the comparison timeline. If you don't have any prior savings, leave this as $0.

Initial Deposit The amount you'd put into savings instead of a down payment.

Use calculated default

Calculated default: — equal to your down payment

Monthly Savings Contribution How much you'd contribute to savings each month while renting.

Use calculated default

Calculated default: — difference between estimated ownership costs and your rent

Average Rate of Return (ROR)

%

This is your expected annual return on your savings or investments. For High Yield Savings Accounts or Money Market accounts, a typical value is 3–4% (though this fluctuates with the federal rate). For investment accounts like index funds, the historical average annual return is around 7%. Use whichever best reflects where you plan to put your money.

Other Parameters

Rent Increase Year Over Year

%

Average rent increase has been around 4% per year from 2015–2025. Adjust if you expect something different for your area.

Year-by-year US rent increase data

Step 4

Your Financial Picture

These inputs help personalize the recommended income estimates in your results. They're optional — but filling them in gives you a much more useful picture.

Effective Income Tax Rate

This is your effective income tax rate — the actual percentage of your income paid in taxes, not your tax bracket. If the property you're evaluating would require an income that would push you into a higher tax bracket, consider using that projected rate instead of your current one.

If Buying

%

If Renting

%

Estimate your effective income tax rate

Not sure where to start? A tax calculator can estimate your effective rate based on your income and state.

Current Yearly Lifestyle Spending

Everything you spend money on after housing costs — food, transportation, entertainment, subscriptions, and everything else.

Current Yearly Lifestyle Spending

$ /yr

See the Results section for a full explanation of how this is used in your recommended income estimates.

The easiest way to calculate this: take your most recent pay stub and multiply your gross pay by the number of pay periods in a year (26 for bi-weekly, 24 for bi-monthly) to get your annual gross income. Multiply your total deducted taxes by the number of pay periods to get your annual tax deduction. Multiply your current monthly housing expenses by 12 to get your yearly housing costs. Then subtract your annual taxes and yearly housing costs from your annual gross pay. The result is your current annual lifestyle spending.

Note: If you're in the Renting & Saving scenario, you don't need to subtract your savings contributions from your lifestyle spending amount — the calculator accounts for those automatically.

Results

Your Results

Here's what the numbers say. Fill in the sections above and hit Calculate to see your results.

Your results will appear here once you hit Calculate above.

	Buying	Renting & Saving
Total Upfront Cost	—	—
Average Monthly Cost — Year 1	—	—
Total Yearly Cost — Year 1	—	—
Cumulative Money Spent	—	—
Savings Return	—	—
Return Minus Cumulative Spent	—	—
Recommended Annual Gross Income → 30% Rule	—	—
Recommended Annual Gross Income → Current Lifestyle	—	—

Price-to-Rent Ratio (PTR)

Your PTR is —

Below 10 — Yes, if you can afford it

10–15 — Worth considering, if affordable

15–20 — Probably not

20–25 — No

Above 25 — Run the other direction

The 30% Rule — How We Calculate Recommended Income ▼

The first recommended income row is based on the 30% rule — the common guidance from financial advisors that housing costs should represent no more than 30% of your income.

One important difference from the standard approach: while the typical 30% rule uses gross income, this calculator uses your net (take-home) income — the money you actually have available to spend after taxes. Using gross income for budgeting purposes is, frankly, lying to yourself about how much money you really have. Your purchasing decisions should be based on what you actually take home, not what you make on paper. Your effective income tax rate is then used to back-calculate the gross income equivalent.

It's also worth noting that this estimate assumes your lifestyle spending will scale with your new housing situation — that is, if you move into a more expensive home, your other spending will grow proportionally. This is sometimes called lifestyle inflation, and it's extremely common. If you don't expect your lifestyle spending to change much, the Current Lifestyle row gives you a more personalized estimate.

For the Renting column, this row assumes 30% for housing and 10% for savings — a total of 40% of net income — based on the savings parameters you provided.

The Current Lifestyle Approach — A More Personalized Estimate ▼

This row takes a different approach. Instead of assuming your lifestyle will inflate to match your new income level, it assumes your current lifestyle spending stays roughly the same even after you move. That makes this a more personalized — and often more realistic — estimate for people who are disciplined about their spending.

To use this row effectively, enter your current yearly lifestyle spending in the Your Financial Picture section above.

One important caveat: it is extremely common for lifestyle spending to increase when someone moves into a new home or sees an increase in income. It takes real discipline to avoid lifestyle inflation. For that reason, treat this number as the minimum annual gross income required to afford the new home or rental — not a comfortable target.

For the Renting column, this row automatically accounts for your savings contributions when calculating the recommended gross income. You don't need to subtract savings from your lifestyle spending amount.