Rent Affordability
Calculator

The classic rule is 30% of gross monthly income — the standard used by HUD and most financial advisors. Many landlords additionally require that you earn 3x the monthly rent in gross income. A more conservative target is 25%, especially in high-cost areas or when you have significant debts.

The 3x rule means your gross monthly income should be at least 3 times the monthly rent — so the maximum rent is your gross monthly income divided by 3. Many landlords and property management companies use this as a screening requirement before they approve an application.

The 50/30/20 budget splits your after-tax income into 50% for needs (rent, utilities, groceries, minimum debt payments), 30% for wants, and 20% for savings and extra debt payments. Under this framework, rent should fit inside the 50% needs bucket along with your other essential expenses.

Lenders and landlords look at your back-end debt-to-income ratio: total monthly debt payments (including rent) should stay at or below 36% of gross income. The more debt you carry, the less room you have for rent — the calculator subtracts your debts from both the 36% DTI limit and the 50/30/20 needs budget.

Both matter. The 30% rule and landlord 3x rule use gross income, because that's what landlords verify. The 50/30/20 framework uses take-home (after-tax) income, because that's the money you actually have to spend. The calculator uses both: gross for the classic rules, take-home for the budget check, and it estimates take-home at 70% of gross if you don't enter it.

No. Your income and debt numbers are processed entirely in your browser with simple arithmetic — there is no server, no account, no tracking, and nothing is uploaded or stored. Close the tab and your numbers are gone.