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Home Affordability Calculator

Find out how much house you can afford from your income, debts, and down payment, using the standard 28/36 debt-to-income rules and full monthly housing costs.

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Affordable home price

$287,394.00

Max loan amount
$229,915.20
Principal & interest
$1,453.22
Property tax
$263.44
Homeowners insurance
$150.00
PMI
$0.00
HOA dues
$0.00
Total monthly housing
$1,866.66
Binding limit
Front-end (28% rule)
Resulting total DTI
35.50%
Loan balance over time

Quick answer: With the example inputs this page loads by default, the headline result (Affordable home price) comes to $287,394.00. Find out how much house you can afford from your income, debts, and down payment, using the standard 28/36 debt-to-income rules and full monthly housing costs. Change any input above and every figure updates instantly in your browser.

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How much house you can afford comes down to your income, your existing debts, and how much you can put down. Lenders apply the 28/36 rule: housing costs should stay near 28 percent of your gross monthly income, and all debt payments together under 36 percent. This calculator turns those limits into a realistic price range, counting the full monthly housing cost rather than just principal and interest.

The takeaway in one line

Approved is not affordable: A lender may approve more. This price keeps debt at 35.5% of income.

Assumes $80,000 income, 20% down, 6.5% rate, the 28/36 DTI rule. Illustrative estimate, not advice.

Assumptions

  • Affordability uses the standard 28/36 debt-to-income (DTI) rules, and both percentages are adjustable inputs. The front-end ratio limits your housing payment to a percent of gross monthly income (28 percent by default). The back-end ratio limits your total debt, housing plus your other monthly debts, to a percent of gross monthly income (36 percent by default).
  • Your front-end budget is gross monthly income times the front-end percent. Your back-end budget is gross monthly income times the back-end percent, minus your other monthly debt payments (car loans, student loans, and credit card minimums, not rent). Gross monthly income is your annual income divided by 12.
  • The qualifying housing budget is the smaller of the two budgets, and the calculator reports which one binds. The affordable home price is solved as the maximum price whose full monthly housing payment fits that binding budget; higher other debts pull the back-end budget down and can make it the binding limit.
  • The qualifying payment includes principal, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, PMI (when the down payment is below 20 percent), and HOA dues.
  • Because the down payment is a percent of the price, the loan-to-value and PMI status are fixed for the solve. Property tax is a percent of the price, PMI is a flat percent of the loan charged whenever the down payment is below 20 percent (the same escrow treatment as the mortgage calculator), and insurance and HOA are fixed amounts. The interest rate is fixed for the full loan term.
  • The affordable price is rounded down to the nearest dollar, and the calculator nudges it down by up to a few more dollars if needed so that, after cent rounding of the escrow, both DTI ratios still hold.
  • If the binding budget is not enough to cover even the fixed insurance and HOA (for example, when your other debts are very high), no price is affordable: the price and payment outputs are blank, though the binding constraint is still reported.
  • All figures are in nominal dollars and are not adjusted for inflation.
  • Not modeled: how your credit score, assets, or employment affect your rate or approval; loan-program-specific limits such as FHA, VA, or jumbo; closing costs and the cash you need at closing; income taxes; adjustable rates; and changes to taxes, insurance, or PMI over time.
  • DTI limits are lender guidelines, not guarantees, and lenders vary. This is an estimate for educational purposes only, not financial, legal, or tax advice, and it is not a pre-approval. Consult a qualified professional and a lender for figures specific to your situation.

Key terms

Definitions for the terms this calculator uses, in our finance glossary .

How much house can you afford?

Affordability runs the mortgage math in reverse. Instead of starting from a price, it starts from your income and works out the largest price whose full monthly housing cost still fits inside the standard debt-to-income (DTI) limits.

Two limits apply, and the smaller one binds:

  • Front-end ratio: housing cost as a share of gross monthly income. The conventional guideline is 28%.
  • Back-end ratio: total debt (housing plus car loans, student loans, and card minimums) as a share of gross monthly income. The conventional guideline is 36%.

The qualifying budget is the lower of the front-end budget and the back-end budget. The back-end budget already has your other debts subtracted, so high debts pull it below the front-end budget and make it the binding constraint.

The qualifying payment is full PITI plus PMI and HOA: principal and interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, PMI when your down payment is under 20%, and any HOA dues. Using principal and interest alone would overstate affordability, because the escrow costs also have to fit the limit.

Because the down payment is entered as a percent, the loan-to-value (and therefore whether PMI applies) is fixed, so the price solves in one step:

price × [ (1 − d)·pf + taxRate/12 + (PMI term) ] + insurance + HOA = budget

where d is the down payment fraction, pf is the monthly payment per dollar of loan (the same amortization factor the mortgage calculator uses), and the PMI term applies only when d is below 0.20. Rearranged, price = (budget − insurance − HOA) / coefficient. The result is rounded down to the nearest dollar so the qualifying payment never exceeds the limit.

Worked example

$80,000 income, $500 a month in other debts, 20% down, 6.5% over 30 years, 1.1% property tax, $1,800 a year insurance, no HOA:

  • Gross monthly income = $80,000 ÷ 12 = $6,666.67
  • Front-end budget = $6,666.67 × 28% = $1,866.67. Back-end budget = $6,666.67 × 36% − $500 = $1,900.
  • The smaller is $1,866.67, so the front-end ratio binds.
  • Subtract fixed escrow: $1,866.67 − $150 insurance = $1,716.67 for price-scaling costs.
  • Coefficient = (0.80 × 0.00632068) + (1.1% ÷ 12) = 0.00505654 + 0.00091667 = 0.00597321
  • Price = $1,716.67 ÷ 0.00597321 = $287,394.4, rounded down to $287,394
  • Loan = $287,394 × 0.80 = $229,915.20; principal and interest = $1,453.22 a month
  • Full payment: $1,453.22 P&I + $263.44 tax + $150 insurance = $1,866.66 a month, within a cent of the $1,866.67 budget.

That leaves the back-end ratio at ($1,866.66 + $500) ÷ $6,666.67 = 35.5%, just under the 36% limit, which is why the front-end ratio is the one that binds here.

Edge cases

If your other debts are large enough that the back-end budget is zero or negative, no price is affordable and the result is blank rather than a misleading number. When the down payment is below 20%, PMI is added to the qualifying payment, which lowers the price you can support.

Assumptions and limits

DTI limits are lender guidelines, not guarantees. Real approval also depends on your credit, assets, employment, and the property itself, and different loan programs allow different ratios (which you can change here). Property taxes and insurance vary widely by location. This is an estimate to plan with, not a pre-approval.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How much house can I afford?
A common rule is that your monthly housing cost should stay under 28% of gross monthly income (the front-end ratio) and your total debt under 36% (the back-end ratio). This calculator uses the lower of the two budgets, subtracts taxes, insurance, PMI, and HOA, and works backward to the home price those payments support.
What is debt-to-income (DTI) and the 28/36 rule?
DTI is your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. The front-end ratio counts only housing; the back-end ratio counts all debt. The 28/36 rule, 28% front-end and 36% back-end, is the conservative conventional standard. Some loan programs allow higher ratios, which you can set here.
Does this include property taxes and insurance?
Yes. The qualifying payment is full PITI: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, plus PMI when you put down less than 20% and any HOA dues. Using P&I alone would overstate what you can afford, because the escrow costs also have to fit inside the DTI limit.

Related calculators

Learn how this works

New to this topic? Our companion guide explains it in plain language: How Much House Can You Really Afford in 2026: The Complete Methodology

By Sam Sage Last reviewed .