Rent Increase Calculator

The short answer

To find the percentage, subtract your current rent from the new rent, divide by the current rent and multiply by 100. Going from $1,800 to $1,926 is $126 more a month, a 7% increase, or $1,512 over a year.

To add a percentage to your rent, multiply the rent by 1 plus the percentage as a decimal: a 4% increase turns $2,200 into $2,288.

How to use the calculator

1. Pick what you want to work out: the change between two rents, the new rent after a percentage, or the rent after several yearly increases.
2. Enter your current rent, then the new rent or the percentage.
3. For several years, enter how many. The calculator applies one increase a year, at the same percentage.

The result shows the change a month and over a year. Use Copy link to keep the numbers next to your renewal offer.

Rent after a few years of increases

How a $1,500 rent grows with one increase a year:

The gap between the columns widens every year, because each increase applies to a rent that already went up.

How we calculate

• Change: new rent minus current rent.
• Percent change: the change divided by the current rent, times 100.
• New rent from a percentage: current rent × (1 + percentage ÷ 100).
• Over several years: one increase a year, each applied to the rent after the last one, so the rent after year k is today’s rent × (1 + percentage ÷ 100) to the power of k. The extra paid is the sum of each year’s rent above today’s rent, times 12.

In the “current and new rent” mode, a decrease shows as a negative change; the percentage modes take increases only. We show amounts to the cent and don’t round between steps.

Worked examples

Example: A renewal offer

What we know

• Current rent: $1,800
• New rent: $1,926

How it works out

1. Change: $1,926 − $1,800 = $126 a month.
2. Percent: $126 ÷ $1,800 × 100 = 7%.
3. Over a year: $126 × 12 = $1,512.

A 7% increase: $126 more a month.

Example: A 4% increase

What we know

• Current rent: $2,200
• Increase: 4%

How it works out

1. New rent: $2,200 × (1 + 0.04) = $2,288.
2. Change: $88 a month, $1,056 a year.

New rent: $2,288 a month.

Example: 5% a year for 5 years

What we know

• Current rent: $1,500
• Increase: 5% a year for 5 years

How it works out

1. Year 1: $1,575 a month.
2. Year 2: $1,653.75 a month.
3. Year 3: $1,736.44 a month.
4. Year 4: $1,823.26 a month.
5. Year 5: $1,914.42 a month.
6. Extra paid over the 5 years, compared with today's rent: $14,434.43.

After 5 years: $1,914.42 a month, $414.42 more than today.

Before you sign a renewal

• Get the new rent in writing, along with the lease length and the date it starts.
• Look at the yearly total, not just the monthly change. A small monthly increase adds up over a lease.
• Check your lease and local rules. Some states and cities limit how much and how often rent can go up, and require notice before an increase. This calculator doesn’t check that for you.
• Ask for less in writing. The rent increase letter answers the notice with the numbers, your record and the rent you’d like to pay.

Limits and notice rules: a few examples

There’s no federal limit on rent increases, and most states set none, but a lease can only be changed when it allows it, and every state has its own notice rules. Two states with statewide caps, as examples:

• California: for most rentals, an increase can’t take the rent more than 5% plus the change in the cost of living, or 10%, whichever is lower, above the lowest rent charged in the previous 12 months (Civil Code 1947.12). Newer buildings and some single-family homes are exempt.
• Oregon: no increase in the first year of a tenancy, at least 90 days of written notice, no more than one increase in 12 months, and a cap of 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower, published each year by the state (9.5% for 2026, 10% for 2027). Buildings less than 15 years old are exempt (ORS 90.323 and 90.324).

These are examples, not a complete list, and cities can add their own rules. HUD’s tenant rights page links to each state’s rules and local tenant organizations.