Rent Affordability Calculator
Calculate how much rent you can afford based on your monthly income and the standard 30% rent-to-income guideline.
Affordable (≤30%)
Budgeting 30% of income for rent leaves $3,850.00/mo for everything else.
The 30% rule is a common guideline, not a hard rule — some housing markets and lenders use up to 40%.
About the Rent Affordability Calculator
The "spend 30% of your income on rent" guideline gets repeated so often it's treated as a rule, but it's really a rough housing-cost-burden threshold, originally tied to US federal housing assistance standards, applied here to your own income to give you a concrete target number rather than a vague percentage. This calculator converts that percentage into an actual dollar figure — and a couple of alternates — so you have a real number to compare listings against.
It's for apartment hunters and anyone budgeting a move, especially useful before you start filtering listings by price so the range you're searching in is one that's actually sustainable against your income.
How much you make and how much you're willing to spend on rent are numbers worth keeping private while you're still figuring out your budget — this calculator runs the math locally, without sending anything to a listing site or a lender.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the 30% rent rule actually come from?
It traces back to US federal housing policy, which uses 30% of income spent on housing as the standard threshold for being considered "cost-burdened." It became a popular budgeting guideline over time, even though it wasn't originally designed as personal financial advice.
Is the 30% rule based on gross income or take-home pay?
It's conventionally applied to gross (pre-tax) income, which is also what this calculator uses — worth keeping in mind, since 30% of your gross income is a noticeably larger dollar amount than 30% of what actually lands in your bank account after taxes.
What if I live in a city where 30% of my income isn't realistic for rent?
In many high cost-of-living metro areas, spending 35-45%+ of income on rent is common in practice, even though it exceeds the traditional guideline. Use this calculator's target percentage field to model a more realistic ratio for your specific market rather than forcing the standard 30%.
What counts as income for this calculation?
Most landlords and this calculator assume gross monthly income from stable sources — salary, regular self-employment income, or other consistent earnings. Landlords often specifically want to see it verified through pay stubs or tax returns.
Is it better to spend less than 30% on rent if I can afford more?
Generally, yes, from a savings standpoint — the less of your income tied up in fixed housing costs, the more flexibility you have for savings, debt payoff, or unexpected expenses. The 30% figure is a common ceiling, not a target to spend up to.
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