Home Affordability Calculator
Estimate a home-price range from your income, debts, and down payment using standard lending guidelines.
Loans and card minimums.
Affordability estimate
Estimated home-price ceiling under these guidelines
$377,583
With $2,567/month available for housing under the 28% housing guideline, a price near $377,583 keeps the full payment (about $2,567/month with taxes and insurance) inside it. Many buyers deliberately target less — around $320,946 leaves breathing room.
- Guideline housing budget
- $2,567/mo
- Binding guideline
- Housing (28%)
- Loan amount at the ceiling
- $327,583
- Full payment at the ceiling (PITI)
- $2,567/mo
- Conservative target (≈85%)
- $320,946
Monthly income under the guideline
View data table
| Category | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Housing budget | $2,567 | 28% |
| Existing debts | $500 | 5% |
| Everything else | $6,100 | 67% |
What this may mean for you
The 28/36 ratios are general planning guidelines, not approval decisions — lenders weigh credit, reserves, and loan programs, and some approve well beyond these levels. The more useful question than "what's the maximum?" is what payment still lets you save, handle repairs, and sleep well. Test that number in the Mortgage Payment calculator before falling in love with a listing.
Results are estimates for educational purposes and may not reflect your complete financial or tax situation.
Understanding this calculator
Lenders start from two guideline ratios: housing costs near 28% of gross monthly income (the front-end ratio) and all debt payments near 36% (the back-end ratio). Whichever is tighter sets your budget, and this calculator solves the largest price whose full payment — principal, interest, property taxes, and insurance — fits inside it.
Treat the result as a ceiling, not a target. The guidelines ignore your savings rate, childcare, healthcare, and how secure your income feels — and a house at the very top of the range leaves no room for any of them. Many comfortable homeowners deliberately buy below what lenders would approve.
Assumptions and methodology
- Housing budget = the lesser of (front-end % × monthly income) and (back-end % × monthly income − existing monthly debts).
- The price is solved so PITI (principal, interest, taxes at your rate, insurance, HOA) equals that budget, given your down payment, rate, and term.
- 28/36 are adjustable general planning guidelines, not underwriting decisions; actual approval depends on credit, reserves, loan program, and lender overlays.
- PMI, points, and closing costs are not included in the affordability solve.
Official sources
Last reviewed August 30, 2026. Year-specific figures show their tax or data year in the tool; data is reviewed when the IRS, SSA, and CMS publish annual updates.
Common questions
Why is my result lower than a lender's pre-approval?
Pre-approvals often stretch to the program maximum (some allow back-end ratios well above 36%). This tool defaults to the conservative guideline range because payments you can make and payments you can live with are different things.
Does a bigger down payment help?
Twice over: it shrinks the loan the payment must cover and can eliminate PMI once you reach 20%. Every $10,000 down adds roughly $10,000 of price at the same payment.
Keep going
- Mortgage PaymentEstimate your full monthly payment — principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI — plus total interest over the loan.Calculator
- Refinance Break-EvenSee the monthly change, the months to recover closing costs, and — just as important — the lifetime cost of restarting your term.Calculator
- Income After TaxesEstimate your take-home pay after federal, state, and payroll taxes — by year, month, and paycheck.Calculator
Want a second set of eyes on this?
If you'd like to talk through what these numbers mean for your situation, you can schedule a free, no-pressure conversation. No products, no pitch — just questions answered.