What a month costs

The calculator starts from these figures:

• Rent: Typical asking rent for a new lease. Where that isn't available, we use the median rent residents pay, which already includes some utilities.
• Renter's insurance
• Home price: Typical home value (mid-tier, all home types).
• Down payment
• Mortgage rate (annual)
• Loan term
• Property tax rate (of price, per year): Yearly tax as a share of the purchase price. San Diego: the parcel rate, which applies to the price after a sale. Elsewhere: median taxes paid ÷ median home value, a rough estimate.
• Homeowners insurance (house policy): Average premium of owner-occupied house policies (HO-3/HO-5) in the ZIP, 2022. Condo and co-op unit cover (HO-6) is not included and usually costs far less.
• Flood insurance: Median cost (premium + fees) of single-unit federal flood policies in force in the ZIP — not a quote for a particular home.
• HOA / common charges
• Electricity: Average residential bill of the serving utility (all customers, all home sizes).
• Transit, unlimited local rides for a month: Adult fare, local bus and rail, express routes excluded. Where the agency caps fares weekly instead of selling a monthly pass, the weekly cap × 52 ÷ 12.
• Gasoline: Regular gasoline, statewide weekly average retail price; pumps in the ZIP vary.
• Car insurance: Statewide average spent per insured car (liability + collision + comprehensive) — not a quote; dense city ZIPs usually pay more than the state average.
• Health plan (benchmark plan, age 40, statewide average, before subsidy): Second-lowest-cost silver plan for one 40-year-old before any premium tax credit; statewide average weighted by plan selections, so the plan price in a given county differs.
• Median owner costs with a mortgage: What owners with a mortgage in the ZIP actually report paying, including older, cheaper loans.
• Median gross rent (all leases): Includes leases signed years ago and some utilities, so it usually sits below asking rent.