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While the majority of drivers still finance their vehicle with a loan, a share of drivers in the U.S. choose to lease. Leasing has a few advantages over buying, such as more manageable payments and warranty coverage, but some of the advantages afforded to drivers who prefer leasing to buying are disappearing in 2024.
According to Experian data from the second quarter (Q2) of 2024, the average auto lease payment was $638—lower than the average monthly auto loan payment of $655. The difference between average lease payments and average auto loan payments has narrowed from a $54 in 2022 to a mere $17 in 2024.
In Q2 2024, about 8% of all financed vehicles on the road were leased versus 92% of vehicles that were financed with a loan. However, the share of those who lease versus buy has fallen by one-third since 2020, when 12% of auto financed rides were leases.
| Auto Loans vs. Auto Leases | ||
|---|---|---|
| Loan | Lease | |
| Share of all currently financed vehicles | 92% | 8% |
| Average monthly payment | $655 | $638 |
| Average credit score | 717 | 728 |
Source: Experian as of Q2 2024
In this report, we'll look into anonymized and aggregated Experian data to provide an overview of the current lease market, recent trends and whether there will be more leasing or less in 2025 and beyond.
Gap Between Average Loan and Lease Payments Narrows
Drivers who choose to lease a car are often motivated to buy a lower monthly payment for a leased vehicle versus its loan-financed equivalent—most three-year lease payments are lower than four-year, five-year and even longer auto loan payments.
However, the payment advantage of leasing a vehicle has diminished when compared to purchasing a car in 2024. As average auto loan payments reached an all-time high of $655, average lease payments were not far behind at $638.
Average Monthly Payment for Auto Leases and Loans, 2020-2024
The narrowing difference between monthly lease and loan payments is partly attributable to the rise of new car prices. The average new car purchase price reached $50,000 deep into 2024, versus an average price of $40,000 in the years prior to the pandemic.
Leasing Among the States: Hot Spots and Their Explanations
While not exactly a crazy quilt of states with wildly disparate leasing payment averages, there are some hot spots and cold spots for monthly lease payments.
Average Lease Payment by State
Cold Spots
Beginning with the cold spots, New England generally sees the smallest average monthly lease payments. New Hampshire ($529), Maine ($532) and Vermont ($542) are ranked first, second and third among the states with lowest average lease payments.
Let's break those averages down a bit, keeping in mind creditworthiness is among the factors that determine a consumer's lease price in the first place. As of June 2024, the average credit score of consumers in Vermont was 737, in New Hampshire 736 and in Maine 731. All averages are well above the national average of 715, which put more drivers in a position to lease with lower monthly payments.
It could also be that lessees in these states prefer less expensive models than lessees in other states, which would also result in lower payments. For example, modestly priced Subarus are overrepresented in these New England fleets.
Hot Spots
Now for the hot. That includes California and Texas—but mostly Texas.
Both states have near-average credit scores, which make sense as the two states represent a large percentage of the U.S. population. However, the average monthly lease payment in Texas is $761, considerably higher than the average of $734 for lessees in runner-up California. Following are neighbors of each respective state—Louisiana ($714) and Nevada ($708).
One possible explanation for higher monthly lease payments in Texas may be how taxes on leased vehicles are collected. Texas, and some other states, collect the full sales tax amount of the vehicle from the lessee. Although this tax is spread across the monthly payments of a lease, it still makes the lease payment even higher than in states that don't collect sales tax on the entire cost of the vehicle during the leased period.
But taxes only partially explain the No. 1 Texas ranking: Illinois, another state with upfront sales tax collection, has average monthly lease payments more than $100 less, at $648. As with New England, vehicle preferences likely play a role in monthly payments for leases in Texas. Full-sized trucks, such as the Ford F-150 and the Ram 1500, dominate the most popular vehicles list in the state, with many 2025 model trims exceeding $50,000 MSRP.
Drivers Who Lease Have Solid Credit Scores on Average
When looking at average credit scores of drivers with a lease payment, one aspect that jumps out is that average credit scores among that group are consistently higher than those who finance with a loan.
While the gap has tightened over the years, the average FICO® Score☉ of a lessee in 2024 is 728—still significantly higher than the average credit score for those with auto loans. However, that 728 average has remained nearly unchanged since 2016. Meanwhile, the average score of those with car loans have improved at a rate similar to that of the national average.
Average FICO® Scores, Car Borrowers vs. Lessees
One possible explanation behind the consistent higher-score profile of lessees is that many auto dealers require a minimum credit score to qualify for a lease. While that minimum may vary by dealer and location, it's typically somewhere below the current national average of 726 among lessees.
New and Old Drawbacks to Leasing
Leasing has advantages and disadvantages. Usually, leasing a car results in two immediate benefits for the lessee: a briefer commitment with a new vehicle over buying a new car (nearly all leases are for new vehicles), and a somewhat lower payment than they would pay for a similar purchased vehicle. However, the window on lower monthly payments appears to be closing compared with auto loans, reducing that previously built-in advantage.
But the most obvious disadvantage is one that's always existed: Leased vehicles aren't building any equity. After three years—the typical lease arrangement in the U.S.—the lessee has nothing to show for their monthly lease payment. The dealer may offer the lessee the option of purchasing the leased vehicle (which has significantly depreciated in value), but, possibly more likely, lessees repeat the leasing process, and never really feel the somewhat fleeting bliss of the last car payment.