Rent Affordability Calculator
Find out how much rent you can afford based on your income.
Results update as you type.
About this calculator
A rent affordability calculator applies the common rule that housing should take no more than about 30% of your gross income to suggest a comfortable monthly rent. It also checks the amount against a 50%-of-income limit once your other debts are counted, so a high debt load pulls the suggested rent down to a sensible ceiling.
The core calculation is simply gross monthly income × your chosen ratio. On a 60,000 salary that is 5,000 a month, and at 30% the tool suggests about 1,500 in rent. It then shows the yearly total and the income many landlords require — typically three times the rent, roughly 4,500 a month here — which is the same 30% test seen from the landlord’s side.
Use it to set a realistic apartment budget before you start viewing, to check whether a listing fits your income, or to see how adjusting the ratio changes the ceiling. In expensive cities renters often stretch past 30%, but the more you spend on rent, the less is left for savings, debt payments and everything else.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of income should go to rent?
The classic rule of thumb is 30% of gross income. On a 60,000 salary that is about 1,500 a month. High-cost cities push higher, but going much above 30% leaves less room for savings and other bills.
Why do landlords ask for 3x the rent?
Many landlords require gross monthly income of at least three times the rent — the same idea as the 30% rule from the other direction. The "income landlords may require" line shows three times the suggested rent.
Should rent be based on gross or net income?
The 30% rule of thumb traditionally uses gross (pre-tax) income, which is also what landlords check. But because you actually pay rent from take-home pay, it is wise to sanity-check that rent stays comfortable against your net income too.
What if my other debts are high?
When you enter other monthly debts, the tool caps rent so that rent plus those debts stay under half of your income. A big car loan or student-loan payment therefore lowers the rent it suggests, keeping your total obligations manageable.
Is it okay to spend more than 30% on rent?
It is common in high-cost cities, and not automatically a problem if the rest of your budget still works. But every extra point above 30% squeezes savings and emergency funds, so treat 30% as a target and anything much higher as a conscious trade-off.
How much income do I need to rent a specific apartment?
Multiply the rent by about three to estimate the gross monthly income most landlords want, or by 40 for a common annual-income benchmark. For 1,500 rent that is roughly 4,500 a month, or about 60,000 a year.
API — use this calculator from code
Call this calculator as a free JSON endpoint — no key required. Send the field values below as query parameters or JSON. Read the full API docs →
Endpoint
GET https://calculator.free/api/v1/rent-affordability/curl
curl "https://calculator.free/api/v1/rent-affordability/?income=60000&ratio=30"JavaScript fetch()
const r = await fetch(
"https://calculator.free/api/v1/rent-affordability/?" + new URLSearchParams({
"income": "60000",
"ratio": "30"
}));
const data = await r.json();
console.log(data.results);Results are estimates for general guidance only, not financial, medical or tax advice.