How to use the house affordability calculator
- Enter your household income before tax. Lenders work from gross income, not take-home pay.
- Add your other monthly debt payments: car and student loans, minimum card payments, and child support or alimony. Leave out rent, utilities and groceries; lenders don’t count them.
- Enter the cash you’ll put down and pick the loan type. VA buyers can enter $0.
- Check the rate, property tax and insurance. The rate starts at Freddie Mac’s weekly average for a 30-year fixed loan (7.28% on October 1, 2026). Your county’s tax rate and an insurance quote make the answer more accurate.
- Read both prices. The comfortable price keeps to the 28/36 rule. The lender maximum is the most a standard loan of that type usually allows.
Calcvera’s calculator runs in your browser, so the numbers you enter aren’t sent anywhere.
How much house can I afford?
Most people can afford a home whose full monthly payment is no more than 28% of their gross monthly income, as long as all their debt payments together stay under 36%. That’s the 28/36 rule, and it sets the calculator’s comfortable price. Lenders often approve more.
The 28/36 rule
Your front-end ratio is the housing payment divided by gross monthly income. The back-end ratio adds your other debts. Together they make up your debt-to-income ratio (DTI), and the housing payment is the full PITIA: principal, interest, taxes, insurance and association dues, plus any mortgage insurance.
On $100,000 a year ($8,333 a month), that’s up to $2,333 for housing with no other debts. With $1,000 a month of other payments, the 36% limit takes over: $3,000 − $1,000 = $2,000. Debts smaller than about 8% of your income don’t lower the comfortable price, because the 28% housing limit is reached first.
What lenders allow by loan type
| Loan | Housing payment | All debt payments |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional | No separate limit | 36%; up to 45% with strong credit and savings; up to 50% through Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting |
| FHA | 31% | 43%, higher with compensating factors |
| VA | No separate limit | 41% guideline, plus a residual income test |
The calculator’s lender maximum uses the limits in bold. Read how lenders calculate DTI for what counts as a debt, or check your current ratio with the debt-to-income ratio calculator.
Worked example: the median household
The median US household earned $87,460 in 2025, according to the Census Bureau. Say that household pays $400 a month on a car loan, has $40,000 for a down payment and is quoted 7.28% on a 30-year conventional loan, with property tax at 1% of the price, $1,800 a year of insurance and PMI at 0.5% of the loan.
- Gross monthly income: $7,288.33.
- Limits: 28% for housing is $2,040.73; 36% minus the car loan is $2,223.80. The housing limit is lower, so it applies.
- Comfortable price: $269,500. With $40,000 down (14.8%), the loan is $229,500. The payment is $1,570.27 of principal and interest, $224.58 of property tax, $150.00 of insurance and $95.63 of PMI: $2,040.48 a month.
- Lender maximum: $373,200. At a 45% limit for all debts, the payment could reach $2,879.63, leaving 55% of gross income for taxes and everything else.
The gap of about $103,700 between the two is the difference between a budget and an approval.
How much house can I afford on my salary?
With 10% down at 7.28%, 1% property tax, $1,800 a year of insurance and 0.5% PMI, here’s the highest price the 28/36 rule allows on common incomes, and what a lender’s 45% limit could allow on a conventional loan:
| Household income | No other debts | With $1,000 a month of debts | Lender maximum, no debts |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $138,000 | $47,500 | $234,100 |
| $75,000 | $217,200 | $149,300 | $361,400 |
| $100,000 | $296,300 | $251,100 | $488,700 |
| $125,000 | $375,500 | $352,900 | $615,900 |
| $150,000 | $454,700 | $454,700 | $743,200 |
| $200,000 | $613,100 | $613,100 | $997,700 |
At today’s rates, the comfortable price is about 3.0 times gross income with 10% down. In most counties, loans above $832,750 are jumbo loans with stricter rules, which matters for the largest figures in the last column.
Income needed to buy a house at common prices
| Home price | Monthly payment (10% down) | Income needed (28/36 rule) |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $1,992 | $85,400 |
| $300,000 | $2,360 | $101,100 |
| $400,000 | $3,096 | $132,700 |
| $500,000 | $3,833 | $164,300 |
| $600,000 | $4,570 | $195,800 |
| $750,000 | $5,675 | $243,200 |
The median new home sold in the second quarter of 2026 cost $410,700, according to the Census Bureau’s new residential sales data. Buying it with 10% down takes about $136,100 a year of income under the 28/36 rule, well above the median household income of $87,460.
Conventional, FHA or VA: how the loan changes your budget
The loan type changes three things: how little you can put down, what mortgage insurance costs, and how high a debt ratio the lender accepts.
- Conventional: as little as 3% down on Fannie Mae’s 97% loan-to-value loans. With less than 20% down you pay PMI, a yearly percentage of the loan that depends mostly on your credit score. It ends automatically when the balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the original value, and you can ask to cancel it at 80%. In most counties, the most Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy in 2026 is a $832,750 loan, set by the FHFA.
- FHA: 3.5% down with a credit score of 580 or higher, or 10% with 500 to 579. You pay an upfront premium of 1.75% of the loan, usually added to the loan, plus an annual premium of 0.50% to 0.55% on most 30-year loans under $726,200, under HUD’s 2023 premium schedule. With less than 10% down it lasts for the life of the loan. 2026 FHA loan limits run from $541,287 to $1,249,125 depending on the county.
- VA: no down payment for eligible veterans and service members, and no monthly mortgage insurance. The one-time VA funding fee is 2.15% of the loan with less than 5% down on a first VA loan (3.3% after that), 1.5% with 5% down and 1.25% with 10% down. Veterans who receive VA disability compensation don’t pay it. Lenders also check residual income, the money left each month after major expenses, which this calculator doesn’t model.
The same household as above, with $15,000 down instead:
| Loan | Comfortable price | Mortgage insurance a month | Fee added to the loan | Lender maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | $247,100 | $96.71 | None | $350,700 |
| FHA | $243,700 | $95.29 | $4,002 | $270,300 |
| VA | $256,400 | None | $3,621 | $325,000 |
VA buys the most here because it has no monthly mortgage insurance. FHA’s lender maximum is lowest because of its separate 31% limit on the housing payment.
How mortgage rates change what you can afford
Each percentage point on the rate changes the price you can afford by about 8%. On $100,000 of income with 10% down and no other debts, the 28/36 budget at different rates is:
| 30-year rate | Comfortable price |
|---|---|
| 6% | $330,500 |
| 6.5% | $316,500 |
| 7% | $303,400 |
| 7.5% | $291,000 |
| 8% | $279,400 |
Freddie Mac’s weekly average was 7.28% for a 30-year fixed loan on October 1, 2026, for borrowers with strong credit and 20% down. Your quote depends on your credit score, down payment, loan type and any points, so compare loan estimates from several lenders on the same day.
Cash to close: down payment plus closing costs
You need the down payment plus closing costs, which typically run 2% to 5% of the purchase price, according to the CFPB. In the worked example, 3% on $269,500 adds $8,085, so the household needs about $48,085 in cash. The FHA upfront premium and the VA funding fee are usually added to the loan instead of paid in cash.
Keep savings left after closing for moving, repairs and emergencies. Some lenders also require reserves: a few months of payments in the bank after you close.
A pre-approval isn’t a budget
A pre-approval tells you the most a lender will lend, not what fits your life. Lenders use gross income and count only debt payments, so they don’t see childcare, commuting, saving for retirement or the repairs every home needs.
- Check the payment against take-home pay. If the lender maximum would leave too little each month, use the comfortable price, or less.
- Pay down debts first. Each $100 of monthly debt you clear can raise the lender maximum. The debt payoff calculator shows how fast.
- Price a real listing. Put its price, tax and HOA dues into the mortgage calculator to see the exact payment and when PMI ends.
This house affordability calculator gives you both numbers, so you can choose a price before a lender chooses one for you.
Formulas used
The calculator finds the highest price whose payment fits the limit, rounded down to the nearest $100, and caps it where the down payment would fall below the loan’s minimum (3% conventional, 3.5% FHA). Mortgage insurance is the first year’s monthly amount: PMI as a percentage of the loan for conventional loans, and the annual premium for FHA. It doesn’t model VA residual income, county loan limits, points, or rules that let some lenders go higher.
Frequently asked questions
How much house can I afford with a $100,000 salary?
What is the 28/36 rule?
How much income do I need for a $400,000 house?
Does a mortgage pre-approval mean I can afford that much?
How much money do I need to buy a house?
Do lenders use gross or take-home income?
Can I afford more house with an FHA or VA loan?
Sources
- Selling Guide B3-6-02: Debt-to-Income Ratios — Fannie Mae
- Standard 97 percent loan-to-value mortgage — Fannie Mae (via FDIC Affordable Mortgage Lending Guide)
- Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (FHA)
- Mortgagee Letter 2023-05: Reduction of FHA annual mortgage insurance premium rates — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (FHA)
- Mortgagee Letter 2025-23: 2026 Nationwide Forward Mortgage Limits — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (FHA)
- VA funding fee and loan closing costs — U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- 38 CFR 36.4340: Underwriting standards (debt-to-income ratio and residual income) — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- FHFA announces conforming loan limit values for 2026 — Federal Housing Finance Agency
- Mortgage rates average 7.28% — Freddie Mac
- Figure out how much you want to spend — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Income in the United States: 2025 — U.S. Census Bureau
- New Residential Sales — U.S. Census Bureau