Rent vs buy in Downers Grove, IL
The typical rent in Downers Grove, Illinois is $2,248 /mo, and a typical home is $502,828.
Renting is ahead by $112k over 7 years.
The inputs are Downers Grove's own typical rent and home value, a 20% down payment and today's mortgage rate. Break-even point: not reached in 30 years.
Clearly labelled opinion, with the math shown. These are estimates, not quotes. Adjust a figure and the stamp updates.
- Amount by which renting is ahead
- $112k after 7 years
- Break-even point
- 30+ years owning never catches up sooner
- What owning really costs
- $4,643 a month year 1, against $2,248 rent
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The stamp draws on Downers Grove's typical rent figure and home value. Your rent, price and years can flip the verdict.
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In Downers Grove, is renting or buying cheaper?
Counting the money you get back when you sell, renting costs $112,021 less over 7 years. In every year shown, renting's net cost is lower than owning's, and owning never catches up within 30 years.
Rent. Ownership. Running net cost, by year
Rent vs mortgage payment averages in Downers Grove
Rent and the mortgage tell only part of the story, so here are all the monthly costs in year 1, using Downers Grove's typical price.
| Each month, year 1 | Amount | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $2,248 | All of it, every month |
| Mortgage payment | $2,741 | $2,416 of it is interest in year 1 |
| Property tax | $675 | 1.61% of the value a year |
| Insurance | $106 | Census median for the city |
| Upkeep | $419 | 1% of the value a year |
| Owning, cash out | $3,941 | $325 of it builds equity |
| Lost return on the down payment | $817 | The yearly return on that cash: 8.3% |
| Buying costs, spread out | $210 | 3.5% of the price over 7 years |
| True cost of owning | $4,643 | Cash out, minus the equity piece, plus the two lines above |
The Downers Grove verdict in numbers
- Typical home value (Zillow)ZHVI, September 2026
- $502,828
- Typical rent (Zillow)ZORI, September 2026
- $2,248 a month
- Down payment20% avoids private mortgage insurance, and the engine leaves that out of its model.
- 20%
- Mortgage rate from Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (FRED MORTGAGE30US)
- 7.24%
- The FHFA house price index for Illinois, 1995 to 2025 tracks home price growth.
- 3.3% each year
- How rent growsCPI primary residence rent, yearly growth 2006 to 2026
- 3.5% each year
- What savings earn: 60% S&P 500 including dividends and 40% 10-year Treasuries, rebalanced each year, 1928 to 2025
- 8.3% annually
- Tax on the propertyACS 2020-2024, Downers Grove, Census figures
- 1.61% of what the home is worth
- Home insurance uses Census data for ACS 2020-2024, Downers Grove.
- $106 a month
- UpkeepFannie Mae, low end of the 1% to 4% range
- 1% of value each year
- Costs of buyingFreddie Mac, middle of the 2% to 5% range
- Of the price, 3.5%
- Costs when you sell: Agent commission and closing costs
- 6% of the price
What changes the Downers Grove verdict?
Each line marks the threshold where the 7-year Downers Grove verdict flips, and every other input stays put
When renting wins
- With home prices growing by less than 6.1% a year, our model uses 3.3%, Illinois's long-run growth rate.
- The mortgage rate remains above 3.22%.
- Renting a home like this costs less than $3,450 a month (the typical figure here is $2,248).
- Move at any point during the next 30 years, and owning still doesn't catch up at these numbers
When buying wins
- Growth in home prices above 6.1% a year
- You secure a mortgage rate under 3.22%; today's figure is 7.24%.
- You'd pay more than $3,450 monthly to rent that same home
Downers Grove compared with the other 812 cities
| Measure | Downers Grove | Median city |
|---|---|---|
| Typical home value | $502,828 | $422,451 |
| Typical rent | $2,248 /mo | $1,837 /mo |
| Price-to-rent ratio | 18.6 (#399 of 813) | 18.5 |
| Home prices, last 10 years | 4.6% a year | 6.2% a year |
| Property tax | 1.61% | 0.87% |
| Households that rent | 25% | 42% |
Sources: Zillow data for ZHVI and ZORI, Census ACS 2020-2024.
Other Illinois cities
- Toss-up. Chicago, IL. Buying leads by $3k.
- Rent. Aurora, IL. Renting leads by $12k.
- Rent. Naperville, IL. Renting is ahead by $198k
- Rent. Joliet, IL. Renting is ahead by $30k
- Rent. Rockford, IL. Renting is ahead by $22k
- Rent. Elgin, IL. Renting is ahead by $58k
- Rent. Springfield, IL. Renting is ahead by $13k
- Buy. Peoria, IL. Buying is ahead by $15k
- Rent. Champaign, IL. Renting is ahead by $29k
- Rent. Waukegan, IL. Renting is ahead by $24k
- Renting wins by $71k in Cicero, IL.
- Renting wins by $68k in Bloomington, IL.