Should you rent or buy in San Francisco?
Buying a home in with down at on a loan, versus renting at with rent rising , over .
Tap any underlined value to change it. Everything else is under All assumptions.
Tips if you are not sure how long you will stay, or own your home outright
- Not sure how long you will stay: try a shorter number of years first; short stays usually favour renting.
- Own your home outright: set the down payment equal to the price to compare keeping it with selling and renting.
Starting from typical San Francisco numbers.
Buying leaves you with $718,499 in home equity. Renting and investing the difference leaves $1,089,432.
Home equity is what you would keep after selling. Invested savings is the down payment plus the monthly difference, invested at the assumed 7% return. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation (All assumptions can show today's dollars). Both sides are before any tax on gains; in practice home-sale gains are often tax-free up to a limit while investment gains usually are not.
The answer only changes if San Francisco home prices rise more than 6% a year. You assumed 3.5%. It also changes if your investments return less than 1.25% a year instead of 7%.
How we calculate thisFree, no ads, no account.
Pin locks in exactly what you see now, so finish your edits first. Then change any value, and the two are shown side by side.
- Buy: home equity after selling costs
- Rent: invested savings
- Buy if prices rise 6%/yr
Buying costs more per month by: $3,708 in Year 1, $3,340 in Year 10.
Buying a home in with down at on a loan, versus renting at with rent rising , over .
Tips if you are not sure how long you will stay, or own your home outright
- Not sure how long you will stay: try a shorter number of years first; short stays usually favour renting.
- Own your home outright: set the down payment equal to the price to compare keeping it with selling and renting.
Projected net worth at the end of each year: home equity if you sold, versus invested money if you rented. Nominal dollars.
| Year | Buy | Rent | Rent ahead by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $194,343 | $298,199 | +$103,856 |
| 2 | $243,186 | $365,437 | +$122,251 |
| 3 | $294,124 | $437,033 | +$142,909 |
| 4 | $347,257 | $513,296 | +$166,039 |
| 5 | $402,692 | $594,559 | +$191,867 |
| 10 | $718,499 | $1,089,432 | +$370,933 |
Starting estimates for San Francisco, CA
At about $1,125,000 to buy versus $3,400/mo to rent, San Francisco's price-to-rent ratio is roughly 27.6x annual rent, historically the range where renting and investing the difference tends to win. It is the clearest single number for San Francisco specifically; tax and insurance above are California state-level figures, so run your exact home and rent before deciding.
Home value and rent are Zillow figures as of 2026-08. Tax and insurance are state averages. See the methodology & sources.
San Francisco home values and rents, 2016 to 2026
San Francisco rent estimate
A typical San Francisco rental asks about $3,409/mo (Zillow Observed Rent Index, Aug 2026), up 11% from a year ago and up 25% from five years ago. On a typical $1,125,000 home with 20% down at 6.95%, the mortgage payment alone is about $5,958/mo before property tax, insurance and maintenance.
Is it better to rent or buy in San Francisco?
Prefilled with San Francisco estimates: a ~$1,125,000 home (about $225,000 for 20% down) versus ~$3,400/mo rent. California's effective property tax of 0.69%, near the U.S. average (~1.1%), adds roughly $7,762/yr, and typical homeowners insurance runs about $1,653/yr. Adjust every value above to your actual home.
There's no universal answer. It hinges on how long you'll stay, what you'd earn investing the down payment instead, and California's tax and insurance costs. Property tax is the biggest local lever: at 0.69% on a $1,125,000 home that's about $7,762 every year, before insurance and maintenance. The verdict above tells you the year buying pulls ahead, and the appreciation rate that flips the decision.