Rent Increase Calculator
Rent Increase Calculator
What a rent increase costs, and how it compares to inflation.
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Professional Financial Tools
8/3/2026
What you pay per month right now.
The percentage increase your landlord has proposed.
How far ahead to compound the increase.
General consumer price inflation to compare against. The long-run US average is about 3%.
Enter your details to see results
One or more required values are empty or zero. Fill in the fields on the left — results update automatically.
The rent increase calculator turns a percentage into the numbers that actually matter: what your new monthly rent will be, how much more you pay per year, and where rent lands after several years of the same increase compounding.
It also compares your increase against general consumer price inflation. That comparison is the useful part. A 5% increase in a year when inflation is running at 3% is a real-terms rent rise; the same 5% in a year when inflation is 6% is a real-terms cut. Landlords and tenants often argue about the headline percentage when the meaningful question is how it sits against prevailing inflation.
Use it to check a renewal offer, budget for next year, or work out what a multi-year lease escalation clause really costs you.
A single increase is straightforward:
For example, $1,800 with a 5% increase becomes $1,800 × 1.05 = $1,890 a month — $90 more per month, or $1,080 more over a year.
Repeated increases compound, which is where the number gets away from people:
That same $1,800 rising 5% a year reaches $2,297 after five years and $2,932 after ten — a 63% increase in a decade, not 50%. The gap between those two figures is compounding.
If you know the old and new rent but not the percentage:
A rise from $1,800 to $1,950 is (150 ÷ 1,800) × 100 = 8.33%.
Use the monthly figure before utilities or parking, so the percentage applies to the right base.
If you were given two dollar figures rather than a percentage, use the formula above to convert first.
For a lease with a fixed annual escalation, set this to the lease term to see the total effect.
The default of 3% is roughly the long-run US average. Adjust it to the current rate for a more relevant comparison.
There is no single national answer, but there are useful reference points.
To see what rent levels from earlier decades translate to in today's money, the historical inflation pages convert any amount using recorded CPI data. Comparing a 1970 rent to today's is an inflation question rather than a rent-increase question — the two calculations answer different things.
Source for inflation and shelter data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index.
There is no single national figure, and it varies heavily by market. The useful benchmarks are general consumer price inflation, which has averaged about 3% a year over the long run, and the BLS shelter index, which tracks housing costs specifically and has often run above the headline rate.
Subtract the old rent from the new rent, divide by the old rent, then multiply by 100. A rise from $1,800 to $1,950 is ((1,950 − 1,800) ÷ 1,800) × 100 = 8.33%.
It depends on the inflation rate at the time and on local rules. Against 3% inflation, a 5% increase raises rent in real terms. Against 6% inflation it is a real-terms reduction. Some jurisdictions cap increases outright, so check the current rule where you live.
A lease term setting an automatic annual increase, either as a fixed percentage or tied to an index such as CPI. Because these compound, set the projection length to the full lease term to see the cumulative effect rather than the first-year figure.
That depends entirely on your jurisdiction and lease. Some areas have no limit; others cap increases, often with a formula tied to inflation. Rules change, so confirm the current position for your city and state rather than relying on a general answer.
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