Compare renting and buying in the US after taxes: the mortgage interest deduction, the SALT cap on property and state-local taxes, PMI while LTV is above 80%, and capital-gains tax on the renter's investment portfolio. Read the in-depth United States guide for a worked example.
🇺🇸 Rent vs Buy in the United States
Inputs
Net worth over time
Monthly cost composition by year
Sensitivity
Show grid — pick two inputs and compute on demand
See methodology for the per-country tax assumptions and formulas.
How this US calculator works
The US version models a fixed-rate annuity mortgage, a year-by-year itemise-vs-standard-deduction decision (mortgage interest plus state and local taxes capped by the SALT cap), private mortgage insurance applied while loan-to-value exceeds 80%, and capital-gains tax on the renter's investment portfolio (long-term capital gains, with an optional 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax surcharge).
Once a year, the buyer's tax effects (the mortgage interest deduction benefit when itemising clears the standard deduction, PMI dropping off as equity grows, and property tax up to the SALT cap) are netted into the cash flow so next year's differential reflects them. The result is a year-by-year net-worth curve for both sides over your chosen horizon. The shared opportunity-cost framing behind every country (both sides starting from the same liquid wealth, the lower-outflow side investing the difference) is explained in why most rent-vs-buy calculators are wrong.
Use the inputs to set your home price, down payment, mortgage rate and term, federal marginal tax rate, state and local income tax rate, and the expected return on a stock/bond portfolio. The full methodology, including parameter sources for the 2025 standard deduction and SALT cap, is on the Methodology page.