---
title: "Rent vs Buy Calculator — 5-Year Cost Comparison"
description: "Compare total cost of renting vs buying over 5 years. Includes UK Help to Buy history, AU First Home Buyer Grant, CA FHSA context. Free, no ads."
url: "https://worldcalculators.org/calculators/rent-vs-buy/"
canonical: "https://worldcalculators.org/calculators/rent-vs-buy/"
---

# Rent vs Buy Calculator

Compare total cost of renting vs buying over 5 years. Includes UK Help to Buy history, AU First Home Buyer Grant, CA FHSA context. Free, no ads.

## Quick answer

Break-even: typically 3–7 years in most cities. Price-to-rent ratio above 20 favors renting short-term. US average price-to-rent ratio: ~17 (2026). London: ~30. Sydney: ~26. The longer you stay, the more buying tends to win — due to equity accumulation and fixed mortgage payments vs rising rent.

Source: https://worldcalculators.org/calculators/rent-vs-buy/
Markdown mirror of the HTML page. Prefer this URL for RAG; the interactive calculator still lives on the HTML page.