Rent or buy? The break-even year

The same family, three ways: Maya buys the typical house, Jordan rents a similar one and invests every dollar he saves, Sam rents too and spends it. Same savings, same monthly budget, 30 years. Pick one of America's 50 biggest metro areas or type in your own numbers. It starts with the numbers from our Episode 8 video, checked .

Episode 8Where the numbers come from

1All 50 metros, as in the video

The break-even year is the first year Maya, the buyer, would walk away with more cash than the renter if they all moved out. Click a column to sort it, or a city to load it into the calculator below.

Swipe the table sideways for house return, price and rent.

2Your numbers

Where and what House price, $ Rent for a similar house, $/month Household income, $/yr

Starts with the metro's typical single-family house and rent (Zillow, Sep 2026) and its median family income. A married couple with two kids.

Owning Mortgage rate, % (30-year fixed) Down payment, % Property tax, % of the price Upkeep, % of the price a year Selling costs, %

The next 30 years Home prices grow, % a year Rent grows, % a year Stocks return, % a year Count federal and state income taxes Show money in

Growth starts at the metro's own last 30 years (FHFA home prices, BLS rents). Stocks: the S&P 500 with dividends, 1996–2025.

3The answer

If they all moved out that year: cash in hand

Maya buysJordan rents + investsSam rents + spends

Maya sells the house (selling costs, tax on any gain over $500,000) and cashes out her fund; Jordan and Sam cash out theirs and pay capital gains tax.

Month one

How we calculate

4Where every number comes from

RECEIPTDefault values and sources, checked

For education, not financial or tax advice.