Rent affordability calculator

How much rent you can afford, three ways

No single rule fits everyone, so the calculator runs three that answer different questions. The 30% rule asks what housing experts and HUD consider affordable. The 50/30/20 budget asks what fits your take-home pay after the bills you can't skip. The landlord test asks what you can get approved for. The low end of your range is the strictest budget rule; the landlord limit is a ceiling, not a target.

30% rule: rent = 0.30 × gross monthly income − utilities
50/30/20: rent = 0.50 × take-home − debts − utilities − other needs
40x test: rent = yearly gross income ÷ 40

Here is the calculator's opening example: $60,000 a year before tax, $3,900 a month take-home, $300 of debt payments, $150 of utilities and $500 of other must-pay bills.

1. 1

   Monthly gross income

   $60,000 ÷ 12 = $5,000 a month.

2. 2

   Apply the 30% rule

   30% × $5,000 = $1,500 for rent and utilities together. Take off $150 of utilities: $1,350 of rent.

3. 3

   Apply 50/30/20

   Needs get half of take-home pay: 50% × $3,900 = $1,950. Take off debts ($300), utilities ($150) and other needs ($500): $1,000 of rent.

4. 4

   Check the landlord test

   $60,000 ÷ 40 = $1,500. A landlord using 3x monthly income would go to $1,667.

5. 5

   Read the range

   The budget range is $1,000 to $1,350. A $1,300 apartment plus $150 of utilities is 29% of gross income, just under HUD's 30% line, and leaves $1,650 of take-home pay for savings and everything else.

The two budget rules disagree because they measure different things. The 30% rule ignores taxes and debts; the 50/30/20 budget counts them. If your take-home pay is low compared with your gross, or your debts are high, the 50/30/20 number is the more honest one.

Rent by income

The most rent each income allows under the two landlord rules, before utilities. The 40x test equals 30% of gross income.

Where the 30% line comes from

The 30% figure started in federal housing law. The Brooke Amendment of 1969 capped public housing rent at 25% of a tenant's income, and Congress raised the cap to 30% in 1981. HUD still uses that line to measure need. In its definition, a household is cost-burdened when housing costs, including utilities, take more than 30% of income, and severely cost-burdened above 50%. Those definitions drive national housing data. Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies counted a record 22.7 million cost-burdened renter households in 2024, about 49% of renters.

Being over 30% doesn't mean you can't pay the rent. It means less is left for everything else, and a surprise expense hurts more. At low incomes, 30% can still be too much, because the 70% that's left may not cover food and transportation. At high incomes, paying more than 30% may be fine.

The 50/30/20 budget

The 50/30/20 split was popularized by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi in their 2005 book All Your Worth. It divides take-home pay into needs (50%), wants (30%) and savings and extra debt payoff (20%). Rent and utilities sit in the needs bucket along with minimum debt payments, groceries, insurance, transportation and child care, which is why this rule often gives the lowest rent. In the example, $1,300 rent leaves $1,650 after needs, about $300 short of the $1,950 the 30% and 20% buckets would hold. That's a trade-off to make on purpose, not a failure.

What landlords check

Each landlord or property manager sets its own screening rules, but income tests like these are common:

Landlords also look at credit, rental history and sometimes debts. If you fall short, common options are a co-signer or guarantor (who often must earn far more), a larger deposit where the law allows, or adding a roommate's income. Ask what the landlord requires before you pay an application fee.

Tips before you sign

• Price the utilities. Ask the landlord or the utility for the unit's past bills. The $150 default is close to the EIA's 2024 average electric bill of $142.26 a month; gas, water, trash and internet can add more.
• Count the fees. Parking, pet rent, amenity fees and renters insurance are monthly costs too. Add them to rent or to other must-pays.
• Plan the move-in cash. First month, deposit and application fees often total two to three months of rent, plus the move itself. Our moving cost calculator estimates that part.
• Expect increases. Rents usually go up at renewal. Leave room so next year's lease still fits.
• Compare places, not just rents. A cheaper city can change the math; our cost of living calculator compares them.
• Thinking about owning later? The rent vs. buy calculator compares the two over time with your numbers, and the home affordability calculator shows what a lender might approve. Neither choice is right for everyone.

Sources and assumptions

• Cost-burden definitions: HUD Office of Policy Development and Research, CHAS data background: housing costs, including utilities, above 30% of income (cost burden) and above 50% (severe cost burden). The calculator measures burden against gross income, as HUD does.
• Renter cost burdens: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, The State of the Nation's Housing 2026 (released June 17, 2026; link goes to its cost-burden map), 2024 data: 22.7 million cost-burdened renter households, 49% of renters, as summarized by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (July 13, 2026).
• 50/30/20 budget: Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan (Free Press, 2005). Applied here to take-home pay, with minimum debt payments counted as needs.
• Landlord tests (40x, 3x, 2.5x): common screening practices, not law. Each landlord sets its own; some cities and states limit how income can be screened.
• Utilities default ($150 a month): our rounded estimate, near the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2024 average residential electric bill of $142.26 a month (EIA electricity sales and revenue data). Income, take-home pay, debts and other bills are example values; put in your own.
• Not included: taxes (enter take-home pay directly), renters insurance and fees unless you add them, move-in costs and rent increases.
• This calculator is an educational guide, not financial advice or a rental approval. For budgeting or rental help, find a HUD-approved housing counselor. Checked November 1, 2026.

Common questions