Garrett County, MD
Rent vs Own in Garrett County, Maryland
Renting beats owning in Garrett County on these numbers. HUD's 2-bedroom benchmark is $973/mo against roughly $1,411/mo to own. Here is where the gap comes from. Owner-occupied homes: 10,027.
A 2-bedroom rental here runs $973/mo, below the $1,411/mo that owning works out to under the assumptions below. That is a $438/mo difference.
Based on 20% down, 6.5% rate, 30-year mortgage. Adjust below.
What This Data Tells Us About Renting vs Owning in Garrett County
Primary driver
The monthly comparison favours renting
The median home value in Garrett County, Maryland is $235,300 with a median annual property tax of $1,836, an effective rate of 0.78%. At 20% down on a 6.5% 30-year mortgage, the all-in monthly ownership cost comes to $1,411, above the $973/mo HUD prices a 2-bedroom rental at. Renting is about $438/mo cheaper before equity build-up or long-term appreciation.
Decision signal 2
The county sits near the state middle
Using the assumptions above, Garrett County ranks 17 of 24 Maryland counties for buy-vs-rent value (rank 1 = the best relative deal for buying). It sits ahead of 7 other Maryland counties on this measure.
Decision signal 3
Price and income sit in the middle band
Median household income is $67,688, putting the home-price-to-income ratio at 3.5x. Property taxes consume 2.7% of median income; use those two burdens separately rather than treating the mortgage payment as the whole ownership cost.
Decision signal 4
HUD moved the rent benchmark up
HUD raised its 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent for Garrett County from $933/mo in FY2025 to $973/mo in FY2026: it increased by $40/mo (+4.3%). A rising rent benchmark widens the gap in favour of owning over time, because the mortgage share of the ownership cost below is fixed at origination while the rent it is compared against reprices every year.
Methodology & disclaimer
This calculator is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Property tax figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates and rent figures come from HUD Fair Market Rents; both describe area medians, not individual transactions. Insurance is estimated at 0.35% of home value annually and closing costs, maintenance, HOA, and PMI are not included. Consult a licensed mortgage, tax, or real-estate professional before making a buy-or-rent decision based on these numbers.
Monthly Cost Breakdown
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Affordability Context
Who actually pays it here
Most households that own outright land between $800 and $1,499 a year, squarely at the national middle, so the tax neither argues for renting nor against it and the decision turns on price and mobility instead.
As across most of the country, six-figure earners between $100,000 and $200,000 account for more of these write-offs than any other group.
Bill bands are Census ACS counts of owner-occupied homes without a mortgage. Income brackets are IRS Statistics of Income county data for tax year 2022, counted over FILERS reporting real-estate taxes on Schedule A, which is a smaller group than homeowners: most filers take the standard deduction.
Nearby Counties
Frequently Asked Questions
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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Government Finances State and local property tax revenue by jurisdiction · 2025