How Much Rent Can I Afford?

How to use the calculator

1. Income: enter your pay before taxes and choose monthly or annual. U.S. rules use gross (pre-tax) income. Renting together? Enter combined household income.
2. Income type: keep Gross unless you only know your take-home pay. The calculator never converts net to gross; it warns you when the basis differs.
3. Other monthly debt payments: car loan, student loan, credit card minimums, personal loans. Leave 0 if you have none.
4. Monthly utilities: electricity, gas, water, trash, internet — whatever you pay on top of the rent.
5. Rent you're considering: the listed rent without utilities. Leave it empty if you only want the maximum.

The ratio, verdict, headroom and required income appear only when you enter a candidate rent.

How the calculator works

Annual income is divided by 12. The main figure starts from the 30% rule, which covers rent plus utilities:

max rent = 30% × monthly income − utilities − other debt payments

Subtracting your debt payments is a cautious choice made by this calculator, not part of any official definition: the 30% line assumes nothing else is already committed. With debts at 0 you get the plain 30% rule, and the first row of the table always shows that figure without debts.

The table compares four yardsticks, none of which is a law:

• 30% cost-burden line (HUD): a statistical threshold. HUD calls a household cost-burdened when housing costs, including utilities, exceed 30% of income, and severely cost-burdened above 50%.
• 40× rent: a landlord practice, common in New York City: gross annual income of at least 40 times the monthly rent. It covers rent only and equals 30% of gross monthly pay.
• 50/30/20 needs budget: a budgeting rule from Elizabeth Warren's All Your Worth. Half of after-tax income goes to all needs — housing, utilities, food, transportation, child care, insurance. The row is an upper bound for that whole bucket, not for rent alone.
• 50% severe cost burden (HUD): the line this calculator uses for the overburdened verdict.

Verdict: comfortable if the rent is at or below the main figure; overburdened if rent plus utilities exceed 50% of income; otherwise stretched.

Worked examples

1. Single renter, $60,000 a year

With $150 in utilities and a $300 student loan payment, the calculator suggests up to $1,050 in rent ($1,350 without the loan). A $1,500 apartment puts housing at 33.0% of income, 39.0% with the loan, so it is stretched: $450 over the cautious figure. It still passes a 40× landlord test exactly: $60,000 a year.

2. Couple earning $95,000 together

That's $7,916.67 a month. With $200 in utilities and a $450 car payment, the maximum is $1,725 ($2,175 without the car payment; the 40× row allows $2,375). A $1,650 rent is comfortable: 23.4% of income for housing, 29.1% with the car loan, $75 of headroom. A landlord using 40× would look for $66,000 a year.

3. A rent that's too high

Earning $3,000 a month with no debts and $150 in utilities, the 30% rule points to $750. A $1,400 rent would take 51.7% of income, above HUD's 50% severe line, so the verdict is overburdened. Under 40×, that rent calls for $56,000 a year.

How to read your results

The maximum is a ceiling, not a target; with high childcare or commuting costs, or a savings goal, aim lower. Stretched means the rent is above the cautious figure but housing stays under HUD's 50% line: doable, with less left for debts and savings. Taxes, housing vouchers, deposits, application fees, renters insurance and local rent levels are not modelled.