Real Estate Decisions
Rent vs Buy vs Condo vs Townhouse Calculator
Compare the true monthly cost and 5-year wealth impact of renting, buying a house, buying a condo, or buying a townhouse in every U.S. state — with real local property tax, insurance, rent, and home-price data.
Most "rent vs buy" calculators take a national average and call it a day. That's how people end up surprised when their Texas property tax bill arrives $3,800 bigger than the New Jersey one their cousin warned them about, or when their Florida insurance premium triples mid-policy. We built one page per state, with real local numbers — median home price from Zillow ZHVI, property tax from the Tax Foundation, 2-bedroom rent from HUD's Fair Market Rents, and homeowners insurance from NAIC's annual survey. Each page compares four options: rent, buy a single-family house, buy a condo, buy a townhouse. We compute the monthly all-in cost (mortgage + tax + insurance + maintenance + HOA where applicable) and the 5-year net-worth delta versus a do-nothing baseline. Save scenarios to come back to, copy a prefilled URL to share with a partner, run a "what-if" multiplier to stress-test the numbers, and read a ~900-word write-up that's actually about your state — not a Mad-Lib swap.
- All 50 states with real local numbers, updated quarterly
- Four options compared: rent, house, condo, townhouse
- Monthly all-in cost AND 5-year wealth delta
- Save scenarios, copy prefilled URLs, print to PDF
- Three pre-built scenarios (Conservative / Typical / Ambitious)
- Cited sources on every page — no anonymous averages
Alabama
Median home $228,000, property tax 0.41%, median 2BR rent $1,180/mo, homeowners insurance $1,700/yr · top income tax 5%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Alaska
Median home $366,000, property tax 1.04%, median 2BR rent $1,530/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Arizona
Median home $432,000, property tax 0.62%, median 2BR rent $1,690/mo, homeowners insurance $1,400/yr · top income tax 2.5%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Arkansas
Median home $207,000, property tax 0.62%, median 2BR rent $1,050/mo, homeowners insurance $2,100/yr · top income tax 4.4%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
California
Median home $786,000, property tax 0.71%, median 2BR rent $2,380/mo, homeowners insurance $1,400/yr · top income tax 13.3%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Colorado
Median home $558,000, property tax 0.51%, median 2BR rent $1,940/mo, homeowners insurance $2,100/yr · top income tax 4.4%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Connecticut
Median home $411,000, property tax 1.95%, median 2BR rent $1,810/mo, homeowners insurance $1,600/yr · top income tax 6.99%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Delaware
Median home $364,000, property tax 0.55%, median 2BR rent $1,530/mo, homeowners insurance $950/yr · top income tax 6.6%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Florida
Median home $397,000, property tax 0.86%, median 2BR rent $1,850/mo, homeowners insurance $4,300/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Georgia
Median home $332,000, property tax 0.81%, median 2BR rent $1,640/mo, homeowners insurance $1,700/yr · top income tax 5.49%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Hawaii
Median home $853,000, property tax 0.27%, median 2BR rent $2,310/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 11%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Idaho
Median home $460,000, property tax 0.56%, median 2BR rent $1,410/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 5.8%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Illinois
Median home $268,000, property tax 2.08%, median 2BR rent $1,490/mo, homeowners insurance $1,300/yr · top income tax 4.95%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Indiana
Median home $235,000, property tax 0.84%, median 2BR rent $1,150/mo, homeowners insurance $1,300/yr · top income tax 3.05%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Iowa
Median home $215,000, property tax 1.43%, median 2BR rent $1,090/mo, homeowners insurance $1,500/yr · top income tax 5.7%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Kansas
Median home $225,000, property tax 1.34%, median 2BR rent $1,110/mo, homeowners insurance $3,400/yr · top income tax 5.7%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Kentucky
Median home $213,000, property tax 0.83%, median 2BR rent $1,050/mo, homeowners insurance $1,900/yr · top income tax 4%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Louisiana
Median home $200,000, property tax 0.55%, median 2BR rent $1,170/mo, homeowners insurance $3,700/yr · top income tax 4.25%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Maine
Median home $386,000, property tax 1.24%, median 2BR rent $1,490/mo, homeowners insurance $950/yr · top income tax 7.15%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Maryland
Median home $425,000, property tax 1.05%, median 2BR rent $1,820/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 5.75%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Massachusetts
Median home $605,000, property tax 1.14%, median 2BR rent $2,210/mo, homeowners insurance $1,500/yr · top income tax 9%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Michigan
Median home $245,000, property tax 1.38%, median 2BR rent $1,240/mo, homeowners insurance $1,900/yr · top income tax 4.25%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Minnesota
Median home $333,000, property tax 1.05%, median 2BR rent $1,450/mo, homeowners insurance $1,700/yr · top income tax 9.85%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Mississippi
Median home $182,000, property tax 0.65%, median 2BR rent $1,050/mo, homeowners insurance $1,900/yr · top income tax 4.7%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Missouri
Median home $244,000, property tax 0.97%, median 2BR rent $1,140/mo, homeowners insurance $1,900/yr · top income tax 4.95%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Montana
Median home $458,000, property tax 0.74%, median 2BR rent $1,290/mo, homeowners insurance $1,500/yr · top income tax 5.9%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Nebraska
Median home $252,000, property tax 1.63%, median 2BR rent $1,200/mo, homeowners insurance $3,200/yr · top income tax 5.84%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Nevada
Median home $444,000, property tax 0.55%, median 2BR rent $1,690/mo, homeowners insurance $1,000/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
New Hampshire
Median home $463,000, property tax 1.93%, median 2BR rent $1,690/mo, homeowners insurance $950/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
New Jersey
Median home $519,000, property tax 2.23%, median 2BR rent $1,990/mo, homeowners insurance $950/yr · top income tax 10.75%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
New Mexico
Median home $296,000, property tax 0.59%, median 2BR rent $1,240/mo, homeowners insurance $1,500/yr · top income tax 5.9%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
New York
Median home $462,000, property tax 1.4%, median 2BR rent $2,280/mo, homeowners insurance $1,500/yr · top income tax 10.9%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
North Carolina
Median home $332,000, property tax 0.73%, median 2BR rent $1,560/mo, homeowners insurance $1,500/yr · top income tax 4.5%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
North Dakota
Median home $254,000, property tax 0.98%, median 2BR rent $1,090/mo, homeowners insurance $2,400/yr · top income tax 2.5%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Ohio
Median home $232,000, property tax 1.56%, median 2BR rent $1,200/mo, homeowners insurance $1,400/yr · top income tax 3.5%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Oklahoma
Median home $207,000, property tax 0.89%, median 2BR rent $1,090/mo, homeowners insurance $4,400/yr · top income tax 4.75%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Oregon
Median home $491,000, property tax 0.93%, median 2BR rent $1,790/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 9.9%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Pennsylvania
Median home $275,000, property tax 1.49%, median 2BR rent $1,420/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 3.07%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Rhode Island
Median home $472,000, property tax 1.53%, median 2BR rent $1,860/mo, homeowners insurance $1,500/yr · top income tax 5.99%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
South Carolina
Median home $295,000, property tax 0.57%, median 2BR rent $1,450/mo, homeowners insurance $1,700/yr · top income tax 6.4%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
South Dakota
Median home $305,000, property tax 1.22%, median 2BR rent $1,140/mo, homeowners insurance $3,000/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Tennessee
Median home $313,000, property tax 0.66%, median 2BR rent $1,530/mo, homeowners insurance $2,100/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Texas
Median home $308,000, property tax 1.74%, median 2BR rent $1,620/mo, homeowners insurance $2,900/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Utah
Median home $519,000, property tax 0.57%, median 2BR rent $1,700/mo, homeowners insurance $850/yr · top income tax 4.55%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Vermont
Median home $387,000, property tax 1.83%, median 2BR rent $1,490/mo, homeowners insurance $950/yr · top income tax 8.75%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Virginia
Median home $393,000, property tax 0.82%, median 2BR rent $1,820/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 5.75%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Washington
Median home $605,000, property tax 0.94%, median 2BR rent $1,990/mo, homeowners insurance $1,000/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
West Virginia
Median home $165,000, property tax 0.58%, median 2BR rent $950/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 5.12%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Wisconsin
Median home $274,000, property tax 1.85%, median 2BR rent $1,190/mo, homeowners insurance $1,100/yr · top income tax 7.65%.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25
Wyoming
Median home $343,000, property tax 0.61%, median 2BR rent $1,170/mo, homeowners insurance $1,300/yr · no state income tax.
4 options · updated 2026-05-25