A lease payment has three parts: the depreciation you use up, a rent charge set by the money factor, and tax the way your state taxes a lease. Type the price, sticker, residual, and money factor, and see the payment and what is due at signing.
Type your own numbers and see the same car priced as cash, as a loan, and as a lease, with the taxes and state fees for Arizona. Nothing you type leaves this page.
| You pay | You own at the end | Real cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lease | ... | Nothing; you hand it back | ... |
| Finance | ... | Equity of ... | ... |
| Cash | ... | A car worth about ... | ... |
An estimate on the numbers you type, not an offer of credit or a quote from any dealership. Starting loan rates are the average new-car APR for each credit tier (used-car APR for a used car) from Experian's State of the Automotive Finance Market, second quarter 2026, VantageScore 4.0. The starting money factor, residual, and acquisition fee are starting figures only; the leasing company sets the real ones. Taxes and state fees are estimates for Arizona; the dealership's paperwork and your motor vehicle agency have the final numbers. What you own at the end assumes the car is worth the residual. Nothing you type is sent, saved, or used to check your credit.
The money factor is the lease's interest rate written as a small decimal. Multiply it by 2,400 to see it as an APR: a money factor of 0.0025 is about 6% APR. The calculator shows that conversion under the money factor box.
The residual is what the leasing company expects the car to be worth at the end of the lease, as a share of the sticker price. A higher residual means less depreciation to pay for, so a lower payment. It is set by the leasing company for each model, term, and mileage, so ask for it when you compare leases.
Cash down lowers the payment, but it is spent the day you sign. If the car is totaled or stolen early, most of it is not returned. So it can make sense to keep the cash down on a lease small and let the payment carry the cost.
How a lease is taxed decides how much of leasing's tax advantage you keep. The calculator applies the rule for the state you pick.
| How the lease is taxed | States |
|---|---|
| On each payment | Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming |
| On all payments, at signing | Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Vermont |
| On the price, carried in the lease | Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia |
| No lease tax | Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire |
Depreciation (net capitalized cost minus residual, divided by the months) plus the rent charge (net capitalized cost plus residual, times the money factor), plus tax the way your state taxes a lease.
Multiply the money factor by 2,400. A money factor of 0.0020 is about 4.8% APR, and 0.0030 is about 7.2%.
One close to the leasing company's rate for your credit tier. Ask which money factor your lease uses, multiply it by 2,400 to see it as an APR, and compare it across offers on the same car.
A fee the leasing company charges to set up the lease. It is usually rolled into the capitalized cost. The calculator starts it at $995; change it to the fee on your lease.
Usually the first payment, the dealership's documentary fee, title and registration, any cash down, and in some states the tax on the cash down or on the whole lease. The calculator lists the total.