Mortgage Affordability Calculator
Estimate an affordable home price from income, monthly debts, down payment, mortgage rate, taxes, insurance, PMI, and HOA costs.
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Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator
Calculate front-end and back-end debt-to-income ratios from gross monthly income, housing costs, and recurring debt payments.
Income before tax
Housing costs
Debt payments
Interpret your debt-to-income ratio
Debt-to-income ratio compares recurring debt payments with gross income before tax. Front-end DTI looks at housing costs only. Back-end DTI includes housing plus other recurring debts.
Inputs that matter most
- Income before tax: salary, pension, Social Security, investment income, savings income, and other recurring income.
- Housing costs: rent or mortgage principal and interest plus property tax, HOA fees, homeowners insurance, and similar recurring housing expenses.
- Debt payments: monthly minimum payments for auto loans, student loans, credit cards, personal loans, child support, alimony, and other recurring obligations.
Common mistakes
- Using take-home pay instead of gross income.
- Counting total credit card balances instead of minimum monthly payments.
- Double-counting taxes or insurance when they are already included in an escrowed mortgage payment.
- Treating a guideline as a loan approval rule.
When this estimate can be misleading
The estimate can be misleading if income is irregular, debts are about to be paid off, a lender uses different program rules, or housing costs are entered twice or left out.
Scenarios to try
- Compare your current DTI before applying for a mortgage, auto loan, or personal loan.
- Add a possible new housing payment to see how it changes both front-end and back-end DTI.
- Reduce a credit card or auto loan payment to see how your ratios move.
- Use the 28% and 36% benchmark bands as planning guardrails, not approval promises.
Next-step utilities
How to use this debt-to-income ratio calculator
Enter income, housing costs, and recurring debt payments as monthly or annual amounts to calculate front-end and back-end DTI.
- Enter income before tax from salary or earned income, pension or Social Security, investment and savings income, and other recurring income.
- Choose Month or Year for each income amount.
- Enter housing costs such as rent, mortgage principal and interest, property tax, HOA fees, and homeowners insurance.
- Enter recurring debt payments such as auto loans, student loans, credit card minimums, personal loans, child support, or alimony.
- Review the front-end DTI, back-end DTI, monthly debt payments, and benchmark chart.
Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator features
- Calculate front-end debt-to-income ratio from housing costs and gross monthly income.
- Calculate back-end debt-to-income ratio from housing plus recurring monthly debts.
- Enter salary, pension, Social Security, investment, savings, and other income separately.
- Separate rent, mortgage principal and interest, property tax, HOA fees, and homeowners insurance.
- Separate auto loans, student loans, credit card minimums, and other loans or liabilities.
- Use monthly or annual periods for each income, debt, and expense line.
- Compare housing costs with a common 28% front-end benchmark.
- Compare total monthly debt with a common 36% back-end benchmark.
- Visualize current ratios against target, caution, and high benchmark bands.
- Use client-side calculations without uploading financial details.
- Plan before using mortgage affordability, loan, or payoff calculators.
Front-end versus back-end DTI
Front-end and back-end ratios answer different affordability questions.
Front-end DTI measures only housing costs against gross monthly income. It is most useful when comparing rent or a future mortgage payment to income.
Back-end DTI measures housing plus all recurring monthly debt payments. It is usually the broader stress test because it captures the payment obligations competing for the same income.
Debt-to-income formulas
The calculator converts annual entries to monthly amounts, divides housing and total monthly obligations by gross monthly income, and displays each ratio as a percentage.
FrontEndDTI = HousingPayment / GrossMonthlyIncome * 100
BackEndDTI = (HousingPayment + OtherMonthlyDebt) / GrossMonthlyIncome * 100
The definition of DTI, its gross-income basis, and examples of monthly debts follow the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's DTI guidance. The CFPB's explanation of Qualified Mortgages also explains why lenders consider verified income, assets, debts, DTI or residual income, and product-specific requirements.
Debt-to-income ratio FAQ
Common questions about calculating DTI and reading the results.
What is a good debt-to-income ratio?
Lower is generally easier to manage. A common planning benchmark is the 28/36 rule: housing costs near 28% or less of gross monthly income and total monthly debt near 36% or less. Some loan programs or lenders may allow higher ratios, but this calculator does not determine eligibility.
Should I use gross income or take-home pay?
Use gross income when calculating DTI because common lending guidelines compare debt payments with income before taxes and deductions. Take-home pay is still useful for your personal monthly budget.
Do utilities, groceries, and insurance count as debt?
Regular living expenses usually do not count as debt payments for this ratio. Include recurring obligations such as loans, credit card minimums, child support, alimony, and the full housing payment.
Do I enter my full credit card balance?
No. Enter the monthly minimum payment or the recurring payment you are obligated to make, not the full card balance.
Is this a mortgage approval calculator?
No. Lenders also review credit, assets, employment history, reserves, property details, loan program rules, and documentation. Use this as a planning estimate before comparing actual offers.
Build a complete debt-to-income snapshot
Debt-to-income ratio uses gross monthly income, which is income before taxes and other deductions. Add the required monthly payments that appear on credit obligations, not the full outstanding balances. The CFPB definition of DTI includes monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income and warns that limits differ by lender and loan product.
Use a stable monthly figure for irregular income only when it reflects the period a lender is likely to review. Bonuses, commissions, self-employment income, and a recent job change may be documented or averaged differently. This calculator does not decide which income a lender will accept, so keep pay records and ask how the underwriting rules apply.
Do not use DTI as a complete household budget. Taxes, food, utilities, insurance, child care, and many subscriptions usually do not appear in the ratio, but they still use cash. A ratio that passes a lending guideline can feel unaffordable when those costs are high. Compare the remaining take-home pay with a normal month of spending.
If housing is the next decision, run the mortgage affordability calculator with the same debts. Try a higher rate and higher property taxes as a stress case. The useful question is not only whether the ratio fits a threshold, but whether the payment leaves enough room for savings and surprises.
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