Rent-to-Income Ratio Calculator

The 30% rent-to-income guideline is the quickest gut check on whether your housing costs are sustainable, and this tool measures your rent against it directly. The benchmark comes from HUD, which counts a household as cost-burdened when housing costs, including utilities, exceed 30% of income; staying near it is one way to keep some breathing room in your budget. The check takes seconds and tells you whether your rent is in proportion to what you earn.

The math behind it is simple: divide your monthly rent by your monthly gross income and multiply by 100, then weigh the result against the 30% mark. Gross income means your earnings before taxes and deductions come out, which is also the figure landlords usually screen on. Alongside the ratio, the calculator shows the maximum rent at 30% of your income, how far you are above or below it, and a rating: Comfortable up to 25%, On Budget up to 30%, Stretched up to 40% and Overburdened above that. Those bands are the calculator's own, not HUD categories.

Treat 30% as a reference point rather than a hard rule, since debt load, savings targets, and where you live all shape what actually feels affordable. The most frequent error is plugging in net income after taxes instead of gross, which inflates the ratio and makes your rent look heavier than the standard intends. It also helps to weigh other required housing costs, such as renter's insurance or utilities, when those aren't bundled into the rent.