Research / Rent vs. buy / Florida / Clearwater

Rent or buy in Clearwater?
Renting is $592 a month cheaper.

Renting the typical home in Clearwater costs $592 less a month than owning it. Counting equity, price growth and what a renter could earn by investing the difference, buying comes out ahead in year 9.

Updated September 26, 2026 · Zillow data for August 2026 · 7.03% mortgage rate (Freddie Mac, September 24, 2026) · Rank 52 of 340 (1 = owning closest to renting) · Part of our 2026 rent vs. buy study

Monthly cost to own$2,555typical home, 20% down
Typical monthly rent$1,963Zillow, August 2026
Buying breaks evenYear 93.5% price growth
Cash needed to buy$78,849$342,820 home · 20% down + 3% closing
Income needed to own$102,200vs. $78,520 to rent · 30% rule

Where the monthly money goes.

The first-month cost of owning the typical Clearwater home, split into its parts, against the typical rent. About $223 of the first mortgage payment is principal, which you keep as equity.

The median household income in Clearwater is $66,381 (Census ACS 2020–2024). Owning the typical home would take 46% of it; renting would take 35%.

As a check with a larger rental, HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rent for a three-bedroom home in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA area is $2,448 a month, still $107 below the cost of owning.

  • Mortgage principal & interest $1,830
  • Property tax $208
  • Home insurance $232
  • Maintenance $286

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 Clearwater, by years in the home
StayResult
3 yearsRenting ahead by $23,847
5 yearsRenting ahead by $16,873
7 yearsRenting ahead by $7,670
10 yearsBuying ahead by $11,177
15 yearsBuying ahead by $60,112
20 yearsBuying ahead by $139,564
30 yearsBuying ahead by $449,680

Rent or buy elsewhere in Florida.

Other large Florida cities in the study.

All cities
JacksonvilleRenting $566/mo cheaperMiamiRenting $1,237/mo cheaperTampaRenting $849/mo cheaperOrlandoRenting $878/mo cheaperSt. PetersburgRenting $555/mo cheaperPort St. LucieRenting $520/mo cheaperHialeahRenting $818/mo cheaperCape CoralRenting $593/mo cheaper

More on Clearwater

See the full Clearwater 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 Clearwater. The cost of owning includes principal and interest at 7.03% with 20% down, property tax at the city's 0.73% effective rate (Census ACS), the Florida 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.