Free calculatorMost helpful for Spenders
How Much Rent Can I Afford? Calculator by Salary, Hourly Pay or Take-Home Pay
Enter your annual salary, hourly wage, monthly gross pay or take-home pay and see how much rent fits, with room for utilities.
Save to Pinterest
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)
Affordable rent
$1,500/mo
A starting point, not a lease approval. Many landlords use gross income rules.
Where your paycheck goes
Rent takes 30% of your take-home pay. The rest covers everything else, savings included.
- Rent$1,500 (30%)
- Everything else$3,500 (70%)
Monthly take-home pay$5,000
- 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 |
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 are 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.
Save your results
Your next step
Same numbers, different next move
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
Enter your pay as an annual salary, hourly wage, monthly gross pay or take-home pay.
- 02
Check the estimated take-home, change the withholding assumption or type your real number, then pick what share rent should take.
- 03
Add utilities if you pay them, and see the rent that fits. Move the sliders to test other numbers.
The 4 Money Types
The Math Is the Same. Your Next Move 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.
More Free Tools
See all 14 toolsHome Affordability Calculator
Estimate a home price and mortgage payment that fit your income and debts.
Open calculatorFUNDS Framework
Split your take-home pay into five funds: Fixed, Unexpected, Needs, Desires, and Stash. Plus the banks that make the setup easy.
Open plannerDebt Payoff Calculator
See your debt-free date and total interest based on your payment plan.
Open calculator
