Free calculatorMost helpful for Spenders
How Much Rent Can I Afford, and How Much Do I Need to Earn?
See how much rent you can afford on your pay, or type a rent to see the salary it needs at 25%, 30% or 35%. Works with salary, hourly or take-home pay.
What do you know already?
Rent affordability
How do you want to enter your pay?
What lands in your bank account each month after taxes.
Monthly take-home pay
Rent as % of take-home
Utilities each month (optional)
The details behind your number
Where your paycheck goes
Rent takes 30% of your take-home pay. The rest covers everything else, savings included.
- Rent per year
- $18,000
- Left each month
- $3,500
- Rent at 25%
- $1,250/mo
- Rent at 30%
- $1,500/mo
- Rent at 35%
- $1,750/mo
Rent at different levels
Each step up in rent is money that no longer goes to savings or anything else.
| Share of pay | Rent | Left over |
|---|---|---|
| 25% | $1,250/mo | $3,750/mo |
| 28% | $1,400/mo | $3,600/mo |
| 30%You | $1,500/mo | $3,500/mo |
| 33% | $1,650/mo | $3,350/mo |
| 35% | $1,750/mo | $3,250/mo |
Rent is one of your needs. The 50/30/20 rule shows how it fits next to wants and savings, and Map Bills to Paydays shows which paycheck should cover it.
If bills feel like a scramble
Rent is usually the biggest bill you pay, so it sets the tone for the whole month. If you're a Scrambler, the Money Type whose bills tend to feel like a guessing game, the first fix is paying bills first: rent and utilities go out on payday, before anything else. The other three types, Spender, Saver and Strategist, each start with a different fix. Take the free Money Type quiz to find yours, or read how a Scrambler can put bills first.
Related tools
Sharing a place? Use the split rent and bills fairly by income calculator. Before you move, build a move-in cushion with the emergency fund calculator.
Know the rent instead? .
Your next step
Same numbers, different first step
Two people can get this exact result and need totally different first steps. Your Money Type tells you which one is yours.
How It Works
- 01
Pick whether you know your pay or the rent you want.
- 02
In pay mode, enter salary, hourly, gross or take-home pay, set your housing share, and add utilities if you pay them.
- 03
In earn mode, enter the rent and utilities, pick gross or take-home basis, and see the salary and hourly wage those numbers need.
The 4 Money Types
The Math Is the Same. Your First Step Isn't.
Spenders, Savers, Scramblers, and Strategists each need a different first fix. The free quiz tells you which type you are, so you know what to do with this number.
Common questions
The 30% rule is a common starting point for take-home pay. Landlords and cities may use different standards.
It takes your pay before taxes and subtracts a percentage you set for taxes and withholding. That percentage is a rough placeholder, not tax advice, and taxes vary a lot from person to person. If you know your real take-home from a pay stub, type it in and the calculator uses that instead.
Your hourly wage times the hours you work each week, times 52 weeks, divided by 12 months. Change the hours if you usually work more or less than 40.
If you pay them yourself, yes. Add your monthly utilities and the calculator shows the rent that still fits once they come out of the same housing budget.
Under the 30% guideline on gross pay, about $6,667 a month, or $80,000 a year. At 25% it's $96,000, and at 35% about $68,600. Your landlord's own rule may differ.
HUD and the Census measure housing cost against gross income. Using take-home pay gives a lower rent target, because it starts from the pay you actually receive, so the calculator lets you pick either.
The same math applies anywhere: divide the rent you're looking at by 0.30 to see the monthly gross pay it needs. Type the actual listing rent into the earn mode for your number.
At 30% of gross pay, $3,000 a month. On take-home pay it's lower, depending on your taxes. Use the pay mode and type your take-home for a closer number.
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