Research / Rent vs. buy / Colorado / Lakewood

Rent or buy in Lakewood?
Renting is $2,063 a month cheaper.

Renting the typical home in Lakewood costs $2,063 less a month than owning it. Even counting equity and price growth, buying does not come out ahead of renting and investing the difference within 30 years under our baseline assumptions.

Updated September 26, 2026 · Zillow data for August 2026 · 7.03% mortgage rate (Freddie Mac, September 24, 2026) · Rank 290 of 340 (1 = owning closest to renting) · Part of our 2026 rent vs. buy study

Monthly cost to own$3,863typical home, 20% down
Typical monthly rent$1,800Zillow, August 2026
Buying breaks even30+ years3.5% price growth
Cash needed to buy$128,017$556,597 home · 20% down + 3% closing
Income needed to own$154,515vs. $72,000 to rent · 30% rule

Where the monthly money goes.

The first-month cost of owning the typical Lakewood home, split into its parts, against the typical rent. About $363 of the first mortgage payment is principal, which you keep as equity.

The median household income in Lakewood is $89,792 (Census ACS 2020–2024). Owning the typical home would take 52% of it; renting would take 24%.

As a check with a larger rental, HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rent for a three-bedroom home in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO MSA area is $2,846 a month, still $1,017 below the cost of owning.

  • Mortgage principal & interest $2,971
  • Property tax $220
  • Home insurance $208
  • Maintenance $464

How long you would need to stay.

Net worth of a buyer compared with a renter who invests the down payment, closing costs and any monthly savings at 6% a year. Home values and rents grow 3.5% a year; selling costs 6%.

Change the assumptions

Buying vs. renting in Lakewood, by years in the home
StayResult
3 yearsRenting ahead by $83,349
5 yearsRenting ahead by $109,034
7 yearsRenting ahead by $137,918
10 yearsRenting ahead by $188,066
15 yearsRenting ahead by $293,524
20 yearsRenting ahead by $433,588
30 yearsRenting ahead by $862,517

Rent or buy elsewhere in Colorado.

Other large Colorado cities in the study.

All cities
DenverRenting $1,760/mo cheaperColorado SpringsRenting $1,336/mo cheaperAuroraRenting $1,441/mo cheaperFort CollinsRenting $1,937/mo cheaperThorntonRenting $1,596/mo cheaperArvadaRenting $2,022/mo cheaperWestminsterRenting $1,712/mo cheaperPuebloRenting $728/mo cheaper

More on Lakewood

See the full Lakewood rental market profile with Census medians, or check how a typical rental performs for an investor in our cash-flow ranking.

How we calculated this

Price is the Zillow Home Value Index and rent the Zillow Observed Rent Index for Lakewood. The cost of owning includes principal and interest at 7.03% with 20% down, property tax at the city's 0.47% effective rate (Census ACS), the Colorado average homeowners premium (NAIC 2023) and 1% yearly maintenance. It leaves out income-tax effects, HOA dues and utilities. The typical rental may be smaller than the typical home for sale. Full methodology. This is a citywide estimate, not advice about a specific home.