Rent vs buy in Inglewood, CA
In Inglewood, California, typical rent is $2,487 /mo and typical home is $750,676.
Over 7 years, renting wins by $64k
Using Inglewood's typical rent and home value, 20% down, and today's mortgage rate. Year 13 is the break-even point.
A clearly labelled opinion, with the math shown. Estimates, not quotes. Adjust any number, and the stamp updates.
- Renting is ahead by
- $64k after 7 years
- The break-even point
- Year 13 when owning catches up
- What owning really costs
- $6,249 /mo year 1, against $2,487 rent
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Inglewood's typical rent and home value drive the stamp. Your rent, price and years can flip the result.
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In Inglewood, is it cheaper to rent or buy?
Count the money that comes back to you when you sell, and renting is cheaper by $64,212 over 7 years. For the first 12 years, renting costs less. Buying catches up in year 13.
Rent. Owning. Net cost to date, by year.
In Inglewood, average rent compared with the mortgage payment
Rent and mortgage payments don't tell the whole story. At Inglewood's typical price, here are all monthly costs in year 1.
| Each month, year 1 | Amount | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $2,487 | All of it, every month |
| Mortgage payment | $4,093 | $3,607 of it is interest in year 1 |
| Property tax | $382 | 0.61% of the value a year |
| Insurance | $102 | Census median for the city |
| Upkeep | $626 | 1% of the value a year |
| Owning, cash out | $5,202 | $485 of it builds equity |
| Lost return on the down payment | $1,220 | What your cash would earn at a rate of 8.3% a year |
| Buying costs, spread out | $313 | 3.5% of the price over 7 years |
| True cost of owning | $6,249 | Cash paid out, minus the equity share, plus both lines listed above. |
How Inglewood's numbers lead to the verdict
- Typical home value, from Zillow ZHVI, September 2026
- $750,676
- Typical rent, from Zillow ZORI, September 2026
- $2,487 /mo
- A 20% down payment avoids private mortgage insurance, and the engine doesn't model that insurance.
- 20%
- Rate source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (FRED MORTGAGE30US)
- 7.24%
- Growth in home pricesFHFA house price index for California, 1995 through 2025
- 5.3% each year
- Rent growthyearly growth in the CPI rent of primary residence, 2006 to 2026
- Each year: 3.5%
- Savings return: dividends included, with yearly rebalancing from 1928 to 2025: 60% S&P 500 and 40% 10-year Treasuries.
- Each year: 8.3%
- Property tax from Census: ACS 2020-2024, Inglewood
- 0.61% of the value
- Home insurance from Census: ACS 2020-2024, Inglewood
- $102 each month
- Maintenance, from Fannie Mae, at the low end of the 1% to 4% range.
- Each year: 1% of value
- Buying costsFreddie Mac, midpoint of 2% to 5%
- Price times 3.5%
- Selling costsAgent commission and closing costs
- Price times 6%
What would change the Inglewood verdict?
Each line marks the threshold that changes Inglewood's 7-year verdict, while all other values stay the same.
When renting wins
- Home prices rise at less than 6.3% a year (our figure is 5.3%, a long-run rate for California's market).
- The mortgage rate remains over 5.72%.
- Less than $3,170 a month covers rent for a home like this (typical here: $2,487).
- Your move happens before year 13.
Buying comes out ahead when
- Home prices rise by more than 6.3% a year.
- You lock in a mortgage rate under 5.72% (right now it's 7.24%).
- You'd pay more than $3,170 each month to rent that same home.
- Your stay lasts 13 years or longer.
Inglewood compared with the other 812 cities
| Measure | Inglewood | Median city |
|---|---|---|
| Typical home value | $750,676 | $422,451 |
| Typical rent | $2,487 /mo | $1,837 /mo |
| Price-to-rent ratio | 25.2 (#142 of 813) | 18.5 |
| Home prices, last 10 years | 7.6% a year | 6.2% a year |
| Rents, last 5 years | 3.7% a year | 4% a year |
| Property tax | 0.61% | 0.87% |
| Households that rent | 64% | 42% |
Sources: Zillow ZHVI, ZORI, Census ACS 2020-2024.
More cities in California
- Rent. Los Angeles, CA. Here renting comes out ahead by $111k.
- Rent. San Diego, CA. Renting comes out ahead by $108k.
- Rent. San Jose, CA. Renting comes out ahead by $210k.
- Rent. San Francisco, CA. Renting comes out ahead by $128k.
- Buy. Fresno, CA. Buying comes out ahead by $22k.
- Toss-up. Sacramento, CA. Renting leads by $3k, so it's a toss-up.
- Rent. Long Beach, CA. Renting is ahead by $111k.
- Rent. Oakland, CA. Renting comes out ahead by $44k.
- Buying wins by $11k in Bakersfield, CA. Verdict: buy.
- Renting wins by $115k in Anaheim, CA. Verdict: rent.
- Buying wins by $16k in Stockton, CA. Verdict: buy.
- Renting wins by $27k in Riverside, CA. Verdict: rent.