Research / Rent vs. buy / Texas / Austin

Rent or buy in Austin?
Renting is $2,322 a month cheaper.

Renting the typical home in Austin costs $2,322 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 314 of 340 (1 = owning closest to renting) · Part of our 2026 rent vs. buy study

Monthly cost to own$3,908typical home, 20% down
Typical monthly rent$1,586Zillow, August 2026
Buying breaks even30+ years3.5% price growth
Cash needed to buy$114,407$497,418 home · 20% down + 3% closing
Income needed to own$156,306vs. $63,440 to rent · 30% rule

Where the monthly money goes.

The first-month cost of owning the typical Austin home, split into its parts, against the typical rent. About $324 of the first mortgage payment is principal, which you keep as equity.

The median household income in Austin is $93,658 (Census ACS 2020–2024). Owning the typical home would take 50% of it; renting would take 20%.

As a check with a larger rental, HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rent for a three-bedroom home in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX MSA area is $2,292 a month, still $1,616 below the cost of owning.

  • Mortgage principal & interest $2,655
  • Property tax $599
  • Home insurance $239
  • Maintenance $415

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 Austin, by years in the home
StayResult
3 yearsRenting ahead by $94,145
5 yearsRenting ahead by $133,399
7 yearsRenting ahead by $178,514
10 yearsRenting ahead by $258,896
15 yearsRenting ahead by $434,582
20 yearsRenting ahead by $678,261
30 yearsRenting ahead by $1,472,263

Rent or buy elsewhere in Texas.

Other large Texas cities in the study.

All cities
HoustonRenting $642/mo cheaperSan AntonioRenting $741/mo cheaperDallasRenting $938/mo cheaperFort WorthRenting $872/mo cheaperEl PasoRenting $597/mo cheaperArlingtonRenting $1,089/mo cheaperCorpus ChristiRenting $491/mo cheaperPlanoRenting $2,131/mo cheaper

More on Austin

See the full Austin 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 Austin. The cost of owning includes principal and interest at 7.03% with 20% down, property tax at the city's 1.44% effective rate (Census ACS), the Texas 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.