Rent vs buy in Warwick, RI

In Warwick, Rhode Island, typical rent is $2,235 /mo and the typical home is $420,635.

Toss-up

It's a toss-up: the two come out $2,606 apart over 7 years

Warwick's typical home value and rent, with today's mortgage rate and 20% down. Year 7 is the break-even point.

Clearly labelled opinion with the math shown. Estimates, not quotes. Adjust a number and the stamp updates.

Gap: $3k
Break-even point: Year 7
Real cost of owning: $3,811 per month

Change my numbers

The stamp starts from Warwick's typical rent and its typical home value. Your own rent, price and years can flip the result.

Your figures aren't the city's?

Type in your own numbers: rent, price and down payment. Those numbers shift the stamp.

Is renting or buying cheaper in Warwick?

Small changes decide it, because over 7 years the two paths finish within $2,606 of each other. In year 7, owning's net cost falls below renting's and stays lower.

The renting option. The owning option. Running total of net cost, by year.

Average rent compared with mortgage payment in Warwick

Rent and the mortgage don't tell the whole story, so here are all the monthly costs for year 1, using Warwick's typical price.

Each month, year 1	Amount	What it is
Rent	$2,235	All of it, every month
Mortgage payment	$2,293	$2,021 of it is interest in year 1
Property tax	$456	1.3% of the value a year
Insurance	$124	Census median for the city
Upkeep	$351	1% of the value a year
Owning, cash out	$3,224	$272 of it builds equity
Lost return on the down payment	$684	What the cash would earn yearly at 8.3%
Buying costs, spread out	$175	3.5% of the price over 7 years
True cost of owning	$3,811	Cash paid out, minus the equity portion, plus the two lines above

The figures behind the Warwick verdict

Typical home value, ZillowZHVI, September 2026: $420,635
Typical rent, ZillowZORI, September 2026: $2,235 per month
Down payment: 20% avoids private mortgage insurance, and the engine doesn't model it.: 20%
Rate for the mortgage: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (FRED MORTGAGE30US): 7.24%
How home prices have grownFHFA house price index for Rhode Island, 1995 through 2025: 5% each year
Rent growth: Yearly growth in CPI rent of primary residence, 2006 to 2026: 3.5% yearly
Savings return: 60% S&P 500 with dividends, 40% 10-year Treasuries, 1928 to 2025, rebalanced yearly: The annual rate is 8.3%.
Property tax: Census ACS 2020-2024, Warwick: 1.3% of the value
Home insurance: Census ACS 2020-2024, Warwick: $124 a month
Maintenance: Fannie Mae, lower end of 1% to 4%: 1% of the value each year
Buying costs: Freddie Mac, midpoint of 2% to 5%: 3.5% of the price
Selling costs: Agent commission and closing costs: 6% of the price

What would change the verdict in Warwick?

Each line marks the point where the 7-year verdict for Warwick flips, and everything else stays as it is.

Renting comes out ahead when

Home prices rise by less than 4.9% a year. We assume 5%, a figure taken from Rhode Island's long-run average.
The mortgage rate remains above 7.35%.
Homes like this one rent for less than $2,210 a month (the typical rent here is $2,235).
Before year 7, you move.

Buying comes out ahead when

Home prices rise by more than 4.9% a year.
You lock in a mortgage rate under 7.35% (the rate today is 7.24%).
The same home would cost more than $2,210 a month to rent.
A stay of 7 years or longer.

Warwick compared with the other 812 cities

Measure	Warwick	Median city
Typical home value	$420,635	$422,451
Typical rent	$2,235 /mo	$1,837 /mo
Price-to-rent ratio	15.7 (#585 of 813)	18.5
Home prices, last 10 years	7.7% a year	6.2% a year
Rents, last 5 years	6.1% a year	4% a year
Property tax	1.30%	0.87%
Households that rent	27%	42%

Data from Zillow's ZHVI and ZORI, Census ACS 2020-2024.

Other Rhode Island cities

Rent. Renting wins by $6k in Providence RI.
Rent. Renting wins by $29k in Cranston RI.
Rent. Renting wins by $21k in Pawtucket RI.

Rent vs buy in Rhode Island: the state's numbers