Homeownership cost explorer

The true cost of owning a home

Choose a state to load statewide starting assumptions for taxes, mortgage rates, electricity, and maintenance. Adjust every input to reflect your home, lender, and actual bills.

Your home profile

Set your assumptions

Choose a state to load public statewide starting values, then adjust them to your home and bills. County, city, and ZIP are recorded for context only.

Property and location

Choose a state to load statewide starting values. County, city, and ZIP are context only; they do not imply a local quote.

State or District of Columbia

County

City

ZIP code

Property type

Year built

Home purchase price($)

Home size(sq ft)

Annual ownership costs

State selection updates the tax, electric-bill, and reserve starting points. Replace them with your tax bill, insurance quote, utility bills, or reserve plan.

Property tax rate(%)

Homeowners insurance($ / year)

Residential electricity bill($ / month)

Non-electric heating fuel($ / month)

Water and sewer($ / month)

Maintenance reserve($ / year)

Repair reserve($ / year)

HOA fees($ / month)

Financing and forecast assumptions

Mortgage principal and interest are included when the financing inputs are provided.

Down payment($)

Mortgage interest rate(%)

Loan term(years)

Insurance increase(% / year)

Utility and HOA inflation(% / year)

Maintenance reserve increase(% / year)

Home appreciation assumption(% / year)

Your calculator inputs are processed in this page and are not sent to a service provider.

Start with your location

Choose a state to see your estimate

We use state-level data to set starting assumptions for property taxes, purchase mortgage rates, residential electricity, and maintenance and repair reserves. Your city or ZIP does not imply a local quote.

Project forward

Five-year cost forecast

Compare editable cost assumptions, monthly totals, and estimated equity over five years.

Open forecast

Compare paths

Rent or buy over time?

Compare costs, opportunity cost, and equity across several horizons.

Open rent vs. buy

Plan for repairs

Build a replacement reserve

Make a configurable sinking-fund plan for common home systems.

Open repair reserve

Frequently asked questions

About these ownership estimates

How does my state change the estimate?

State selection loads a 2024 Census tax proxy, a manually reviewed Bankrate 30-year fixed mortgage-rate snapshot dated November 1, 2026, not a live feed (using the same-day national average where Bankrate did not publish a comparable state average), a 2024 EIA average electric bill, and a broad 2024 BEA price-parity adjustment for maintenance and repair reserves. County, city, and ZIP do not adjust these statewide references, and none is a personal quote or exact local bill.

What costs are included?

The tool estimates property taxes, homeowners insurance, electricity, non-electric heating fuel, water and sewer, maintenance, repairs, HOA, and mortgage principal and interest when financing is entered. Insurance, water/sewer, heating fuel, and HOA remain editable assumptions rather than state-adjusted quotes.

Is home appreciation guaranteed?

No. Appreciation is a user-entered scenario assumption, can be negative, and is not a prediction or guaranteed profit. Forecast scenarios are sensitivity tests only.

Read the full methodology