AstraCalculator

Rent Affordability Calculator

Enter what you earn and what you already owe each month. You get the rent a landlord will approve, the rent the 30 percent rule allows, and the rent you can actually live on once the bills are paid.

$ per year

Gross pay, the figure on the offer letter. Landlords screen on gross, not take-home.

$ per month

What actually lands in your account each month, after tax and deductions.

$ per month

Car loan, student loan, credit card minimums. Not groceries or gas.

$ per month

Power, water, internet. A cheaper rent with everything on top is not cheaper.

$ per month

Taken off before the livable rent is worked out, so saving is not what gets cut.

How the math works

Three tests are run and the smallest wins. The landlord test: monthly rent <= gross monthly income / 3. Written the other way it is the 40x rule - annual income must be at least 40 times the monthly rent. The two are the same number: 40 x rent <= 12 x monthly income means rent <= 0.3 x monthly income. The percent rule: rent + utilities <= 30 percent of gross monthly income. The 30 percent figure comes from federal housing policy, where paying more than that is the definition of being cost burdened. The budget test: take what lands in your account, take off debt payments and the amount you want to save, and give a little over half of what is left to rent and utilities. The rest is food, transport, insurance and the things that go wrong.

Common questions

How much rent can I afford on $68,000 a year?
About $1,700 a month by the 30 percent rule, and a landlord will usually approve up to that same figure, since $68,000 is 40 times $1,700. Whether you can live on it depends on your debts. With a $450 car payment the comfortable number is closer to $1,400.
What is the 30 percent rule for rent?
Spend no more than 30 percent of your gross monthly income on housing. It comes from US federal housing policy, where a household paying more than 30 percent is officially cost burdened. It is a rough guide, not a law, and it ignores debt entirely.
What is the 3x rent rule?
Most American landlords require gross monthly income of at least three times the monthly rent before they will approve an application. It is a screening test, not advice. It uses income before tax and takes no account of your car loan, your student loan or where you live.
Does rent get judged on gross or take-home pay?
Landlords use gross, because that is what a pay stub or a tax return shows them. You should use take-home, because that is the money that exists. The gap between the two is often 25 percent, which is why an approved rent can still be unaffordable.
What if I do not earn 3 times the rent?
The usual routes are a co-signer or guarantor, a roommate so the incomes are combined, several months of rent paid up front, or a larger deposit. Some landlords will also accept savings in place of income if you can show the balance.
Should utilities count as part of rent?
Yes. An apartment at $1,500 with heat and water included can cost less than one at $1,400 without. Compare the total you pay to live there, which is what this calculator does when you fill in the utilities field.

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