Mortgage Loan Affordability Calculator
Find the highest home price your income supports under standard lender caps, with taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI in the monthly payment.
Affordability is not a feeling, it is arithmetic. A lender starts from your income, applies caps to find the monthly housing payment you can carry, subtracts taxes and insurance, and turns what is left into a loan. This calculator runs those exact steps, and it covers every angle the old affordability tools covered separately: loan program caps, tax and insurance in dollars or percents, HOA dues, PMI, a higher stretch comparison, and a reverse check that tells you what income a target price needs.
Enter your income and debts, pick a loan program, and set your down payment, rate, and term. The tool shows the highest home price that fits, the loan behind it, and the full monthly payment split, so you can see which part of the payment is doing the work.
Quick Answer
With the prefilled example, gross income $100,000, monthly debts $500, 10% down, rate 6.75%, term 30 years, property tax 1.1% of price, insurance 0.5% of price, no HOA, and PMI included, the maximum home price is $309,294 on a $278,364 loan. The monthly split is principal and interest $1,805, tax $284, insurance $129, and PMI $115, inside a $2,333 monthly housing budget.
How the 28/36 rule works
The 28/36 rule is two caps on your monthly income. The front-end cap limits housing costs to 28% of gross monthly income. The back-end cap limits all debts, housing plus everything else, to 36%. The tool takes the smaller of the two budgets, because the smaller one is the binding limit.
On the prefilled example, monthly income is $8,333. The front-end cap gives $2,333 and the back-end cap gives $2,500 after the $500 of debts, so the front-end cap binds at $2,333. If debts were larger, the back-end cap would bind instead, and paying down debts would raise the maximum price fastest. That binding rule is shown with every result, so you always know which side is limiting you.
Loan programs
Different loan programs use different caps. Pick the program that matches your situation, or enter your own pair with Custom.
| Program | Front cap | Back cap | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | 28% | 36% | The standard 28/36 pair used as the default. |
| FHA | 31% | 43% | Higher caps for FHA borrowers. |
| VA | No front cap | 41% | VA uses the back-end cap only. |
| USDA | 29% | 41% | USDA caps for eligible rural borrowers. |
| Custom | You set it | You set it | Enter any front and back pair you want to test. |
These caps are the program table this tool uses. A real lender applies its own overlays and checks credit, reserves, and property details, so the caps here are a planning guide, not a lender promise.
Same borrower, different programs
The program you pick moves the maximum more than any other single choice. Using the prefilled borrower in every row, income $100,000, debts $500, 10% down, rate 6.75%, term 30 years, tax 1.1% of price, insurance 0.5% of price, no HOA, and PMI included, the tool returns these maxima:
| Program | Monthly budget | Binding rule | Maximum price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | $2,333 | Front-end | $309,294 |
| FHA | $2,583 | Front-end | $342,432 |
| VA | $2,917 | Back-end | $386,617 |
| USDA | $2,417 | Front-end | $320,340 |
VA tops the table because it applies no front cap, so the higher back-end budget sets the limit. The comparison keeps PMI checked in every row for a like-for-like tool output. In the real world VA loans use a funding fee rather than monthly PMI, so treat the VA row as a tool comparison, not a VA loan quote. Switch the program selector on the calculator to rerun your own figures under each program.
What counts in the monthly payment
The monthly housing budget is split into principal and interest, property tax, home insurance, HOA dues, and PMI when it applies. Tax and insurance can be entered as dollars per year or as a percent of price per year, because some buyers know the dollar bill and others only know the local rate. The down payment can likewise be entered as dollars or as a percent of price. The tool solves for the price that makes the whole stack fit inside the budget.
PMI is estimated at 0.5% of the loan per year while the down payment is under 20% of the price. That rate is a planning assumption carried over from the old mortgage affordability tool, not a lender quote. Real PMI depends on the lender, the loan, and your credit. Uncheck the PMI box to leave it out entirely. If you already have a loan and want to know when PMI can come off, that tool covers the removal side.
The 43% stretch price
Beside the main maximum, the tool shows a 43% stretch price. It runs the same calculation with a 43% back-end budget instead of the program budget. Some lenders stretch to 43% on the back end, so the stretch price shows what a looser cap would allow. It is a comparison, not a promise and not an approval. If the stretch price is far above the main maximum, treat the gap as a warning that the higher price depends on a lender willing to stretch.
Check a target price
If you already have a home price in mind, enter it as the target price. The tool works backwards: it takes the loan behind that price, adds tax, insurance, HOA, and PMI, and tells you the gross annual income that price needs under the selected program, plus whether the target fits inside your maximum or sits over it by a dollar amount. Once you have a price you like, you can work out the monthly payment on that price in detail.
Rate shock test
The rate shock test reprices your maximum loan at two points above your entered rate and compares it with your principal and interest budget. If the shocked payment sits over budget, the result says so plainly, because a rate rise after you borrow the maximum leaves no slack. If it stays inside budget, the result says that too. If you are weighing a fixed rate against an adjustable one, compare fixed and adjustable payments before deciding how much rate risk to carry.
Limits of this tool
This tool is a planning estimate, not a loan approval. It does not check credit scores, employment history, reserves, property condition, or lender overlays, and it does not model rate buydowns, discount points, or seller concessions. Property tax and insurance vary sharply by place, so a national planning figure can miss a local bill by a wide margin. Enter your local figures when you have them. If you already hold a mortgage and the numbers here make you reconsider it, compare refinance options rather than assuming the current loan is the best one available.
Takeaways
- The binding cap decides your maximum: front-end means income limits you, back-end means debts limit you.
- Tax, insurance, HOA, and PMI all come out of the same housing budget, so a high tax bill lowers the price you can carry.
- The 43% stretch price is a comparison, not an approval.
- A target price check tells you the income that price needs, before you fall for a house you cannot carry.
Frequently asked questions
The 28/36 rule is two caps on gross monthly income. Housing costs may use up to 28 percent, and all debts together, housing plus everything else, may use up to 36 percent. The tool takes the smaller of the two budgets.
The front-end ratio counts housing costs only against income. The back-end ratio counts housing costs plus all other monthly debts against income. Whichever gives the smaller budget binds, and the tool names it with every result.
Pick the program that matches the loan you expect to use. Conventional uses 28 and 36 percent, FHA uses 31 and 43 percent, VA uses a 41 percent back-end cap with no front cap, and USDA uses 29 and 41 percent. Custom lets you enter any pair you want to test.
Enter whichever you know. Dollars per year fits a known tax bill or insurance premium. Percent of price per year fits a local rate when the bill is not known yet. The tool solves the price either way.
PMI is estimated at 0.5 percent of the loan per year while the down payment is under 20 percent of the price. That rate is a planning assumption, not a lender quote. Uncheck the PMI box to leave it out.
The stretch price reruns the same calculation with a 43 percent back-end budget. It shows what a looser cap would allow. It is a comparison, not a promise and not an approval.
Enter the price as the target price. The tool works backwards from the loan behind that price, adds tax, insurance, HOA dues, and PMI, and reports the gross annual income that price needs under the selected program.
The shock test reprices your maximum loan at two points above your entered rate. If the shocked payment sits over your principal and interest budget, borrowing the maximum leaves no slack for a rate rise.
When the back-end cap binds, every dollar of monthly debt comes straight off the housing budget. Paying down debts raises the back-end budget, which raises the loan and the price, until the front-end cap binds instead.
No. This tool is a planning estimate. It does not check credit, employment, reserves, property condition, or lender overlays. A lender makes the approval decision after its own checks.
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References
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: What is a debt-to-income ratio? (Accessed October 25, 2026).
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: What is private mortgage insurance (PMI)? (Accessed October 25, 2026).
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: VA home loans (Accessed October 25, 2026).
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: Single-family housing (Accessed October 25, 2026).
- Federal Housing Finance Agency. Federal Housing Finance Agency (Accessed October 25, 2026).
Loan program caps in the tool's table come from the merged tools' own program data. All five reference links above were verified live before this draft was written.