Debt-to-Income Calculator
List your income, your debts and the housing payment. See your front-end and back-end ratios, how each debt is counted, and how much more payment you could carry.
Private by design. Your numbers stay on this device.
Educational estimates only. Not financial, tax, or lending advice.
Published
What is a good debt-to-income ratio?
Your debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. This page calls a back-end ratio of 36% or less comfortable, 37% to 43% manageable, 44% to 50% high and above 50% very high. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide sets 36% as its standard maximum for a manually underwritten loan and 50% for a loan approved through Desktop Underwriter.
The example below has $9,500 of gross monthly income, a $2,738housing payment and $790 of counted debts. That gives a front-end ratio of 28.8% and a back-end ratio of 37.1%.
Your debt-to-income ratio
Front-end ratio
28.8%
Housing $2,738 a month over $9,500 of gross income.
Back-end ratio
37.1%
Manageable (37% to 43%). Housing plus $790 of counted debts.
Share of take-home pay
47.6%
Those payments against $7,410 a month after tax. What you can approve and what you can live with are different numbers.
Bands are a guide, not an underwriting rule. To see what price this income supports, use the affordability calculator.
What counts, and why
| Payment | Entered | Counted | Rule applied |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $2,738 | $2,738 | The full payment, including tax, insurance, HOA and mortgage insurance. |
| Car loan | $420 | $420 | More than ten payments left, so it counts. |
| Credit card | $90 | $90 | Minimum payment on the credit report. |
| Furniture loan | $150 | $0 | 6 payments left. A lender may leave it out unless it strains your ability to pay. |
| Student loan | $280 | $280 | In repayment, counted at the reported payment. |
Against each loan program
| Program | Limit | Your ratio | Room left a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional, manual underwriting36%, or up to 45% if you meet the credit score and reserve requirements (Fannie Mae B3-6-02). | 36%, up to 45% | Over 36%, within 45% with credit and reserves | $747 |
| Conventional, Desktop UnderwriterUp to 50% (Fannie Mae B3-6-02). | 50% | Within the limit | $1,222 |
| FHA31% housing and 43% total debt are the standard ratios for manual underwriting in HUD Handbook 4000.1. Automated approvals and compensating factors can allow higher. Confirm the current limit with your lender. | 31% housing, 43% total | Within the limit | $557 |
| VACheck with your lender. We could not confirm VA's guideline from a primary page. | Check with your lender | n/a | n/a |
| USDACheck with your lender. No figure is shown because we could not cite one. | Check with your lender | n/a | n/a |
The most housing payment that fits
With the debts above, this is the largest monthly housing payment at each back-end ratio.
At 36%
$2,630
a month, all housing costs included
At 43%
$3,295
a month, all housing costs included
At 45%
$3,485
a month, all housing costs included
At 50%
$3,960
a month, all housing costs included
Which debt to pay off first
Your back-end ratio if each counted debt were gone, biggest drop first.
| Debt | Payment removed | New back-end ratio | Drop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car loan | $420 | 32.7% | 4.4 points |
| Student loan | $280 | 34.2% | 2.9 points |
| Credit card | $90 | 36.2% | 0.9 points |
How DTI is calculated
Two divisions, both against gross income.
Add the monthly payments that count and divide by gross monthly income, which is pay before tax. The CFPB uses the same definition. The front-end ratio uses the housing payment alone. The back-end ratio uses housing plus every other debt that counts.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross monthly income | $9,500 |
| Housing payment | $2,738 |
| Debts that count | $790 |
| Front-end ratio | 28.8% |
| Back-end ratio | 37.1% |
A made-up household: $380,000 purchase, 10% down at 6.5% for 30 years, a car loan, a credit card, a furniture loan with six payments left and a student loan in repayment.
The housing payment comes from the same engine as the affordability calculator, so the two always agree. Nothing here is a live rate: you type the rate, or you type the payment itself.
What counts as debt, and what doesn't
Debts on your credit report with a required payment count. Everyday bills do not.
Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide, B3-6-05 sets the rules this calculator applies:
- Installment loans, such as car and personal loans, count when more than ten payments remain. With ten or fewer left, a lender may leave them out unless the payment strains your ability to pay. There is a switch in the calculator to count them anyway.
- Leases count whatever the months left.
- Credit cards count at the minimum payment on the report. If none is shown, the guide uses 5% of the balance.
- Alimony and child support count when a written agreement requires them for more than ten more months.
Rent does not count when you are buying, because the new housing payment replaces it. Utilities, insurance premiums outside the mortgage, groceries and phone bills are not debts. An HOA fee, property tax and homeowners insurance belong in the housing payment, so they are counted there.
What counts as income: gross, and self-employed
Pay before tax, as a lender can document it.
Use gross pay: salary, hourly pay at regular hours, and other income a lender would accept, such as documented bonuses, pensions or a co-borrower’s pay. The calculator adds your income, a co-borrower’s and other income together.
If you are self-employed, a lender generally works from two years of tax returns and starts from the income or loss those returns report. Business deductions lower that figure, so heavy write-offs lower the income a lender can use and push the ratio up. Enter the monthly figure your returns support, not your bank deposits.
Front-end vs back-end
Housing alone, then housing plus everything else.
The front-end ratio tells you how big the housing payment is against your income. The back-end ratio is the one most programs set a limit on, because it shows whether the whole set of payments fits. With a $2,738 housing payment and $790 of debts, the example’s front-end ratio is 28.8% and its back-end ratio is 37.1%. The glossary entry gives the short definition.
DTI limits by loan type
The limits we can cite are Fannie Mae's. We show no number for the rest.
Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide, B3-6-02 gives three conventional limits. For FHA, HUD Handbook 4000.1 sets standard ratios of 31% for housing and 43% for total debt on a manually underwritten loan. Automated approvals and compensating factors can allow higher, so confirm the current limit with your lender. We could not confirm VA or USDA ratios from a primary page, so the table shows no number for them. Check with your lender.
| Program | Limit | Example household |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional, manual underwriting | 36%, up to 45% | Over 36%, within 45% with $747 to spare |
| Conventional, Desktop Underwriter | 50% | Within, with $1,222 a month to spare |
| FHA | 31% housing, 43% total | Within, with $557 a month to spare |
| VA | Check with your lender | n/a |
| USDA | Check with your lender | n/a |
The 45% figure needs the credit score and reserves in Fannie Mae's Eligibility Matrix. Lenders can set stricter limits than the program.
The CFPB’s General QM rule no longer has a 43% cap. It tests the loan’s price instead and still requires a lender to consider your DTI or residual income. The 43% in older articles is that former cap.
Student loans: deferred and income-driven
A loan you are not paying yet can still count.
On a conventional loan, the Selling Guide (B3-6-05) lets a lender use the payment on your credit report. For a loan that is deferred or in forbearance, it allows 1% of the balance or a fully amortizing payment. If you are on an income-driven plan and the lender verifies the payment is $0, it can qualify you at $0. The calculator applies the 1% option to a deferred loan, and also to a loan in repayment that shows no payment.
FHA, VA and USDA have their own student loan rules, which are not applied here. For FHA, a lender may use 0.5% of the balance. If you pick one of these loan types, each student loan line says so, and your lender has the final word.
Gross vs take-home: approved vs comfortable
A lender tests gross pay. You spend what is left after tax.
The example’s 37.1% back-end ratio is a share of gross pay. With 22% of pay going to tax and payroll deductions, a figure you can change, the same payments take 47.6% of take-home pay. That second number shows how much of each paycheck is spoken for before food, fuel and saving. To see what price a chosen share of income buys, use the affordability calculator, which sets the limit you pick against your cash as well.
How to lower your DTI, biggest effect first
The payoff table in the calculator sorts your own debts by effect.
Paying off one debt removes its whole payment from the top of the ratio. In the example, clearing the car loan would remove $420 a month and take the back-end ratio from 37.1% to 32.7%. The order is by how much the ratio falls, which follows the size of the monthly payment, not the size of the balance. A debt with ten or fewer payments left is already left out, so paying it early changes nothing.
The other levers are a bigger down payment or a lower price, which shrink the housing payment, and more documented income. The reverse view shows the limit directly: at 43%, the example household could carry up to $3,295 a month of housing.
DTI when you refinance
A refinance is a new application, so the ratio is checked again.
Enter the new payment as the housing payment, or type it in. If the refinance lowers the payment, your ratio falls with it. Debts and income are re-checked as they stand today, so a new car loan or a drop in income since the last loan can move you across a limit. To compare the new payment with your old one, use the refinance calculator.
Debt-to-income questions
- What is a good debt-to-income ratio for a mortgage?
- This calculator calls a back-end ratio of 36% or less comfortable, 37% to 43% manageable, 44% to 50% high and anything above 50% very high. Those bands are a guide. The 36% edge matches Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, which sets 36% as the maximum for a manually underwritten loan, allows up to 45% with the credit score and reserves its Eligibility Matrix requires, and allows up to 50% on loans approved through Desktop Underwriter. A lower ratio leaves more of each paycheck for everything else.
- Is DTI based on gross or net income?
- Gross, which is your income before taxes and other deductions. That is how the CFPB defines it, and how lenders calculate it. Because you spend take-home pay, the calculator also shows your payments as a share of take-home pay, using the figure you type or a tax share you set. That second number is usually much higher and is the better test of whether a payment is comfortable.
- Does rent count in DTI?
- Not when you are buying. The ratio uses the housing payment on the new home, which takes the place of the rent you pay now. What counts instead is the full new payment: principal, interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, any HOA dues and mortgage insurance. Utilities, groceries and phone bills are not debts, so they stay out.
- Do deferred student loans count?
- Yes. For a conventional loan, Fannie Mae's Selling Guide lets a lender qualify a deferred or forbearance loan using 1% of the outstanding balance, or a fully amortizing payment based on the loan's documented repayment terms. A $40,000 deferred loan therefore adds $400 a month even though you pay nothing today. Enter each loan with its status and balance and the calculator applies the rule.
- How is an income-driven $0 payment treated?
- On a conventional loan, if you are on an income-driven repayment plan and the lender verifies that your payment is $0, it may qualify you with a $0 payment. A plan payment above $0 counts at that amount. Rules for FHA, VA and USDA loans differ and this calculator does not apply them, so ask your lender how they treat it. Your lender has the final word.
- Does a car lease count toward DTI?
- Yes. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide says lease payments are recurring monthly debts regardless of how many months remain. That is different from a car loan, which a lender may leave out when it has ten or fewer payments left. Enter a lease as a lease and it counts in full.
- What DTI do FHA, VA, USDA and conventional loans allow?
- For conventional loans, Fannie Mae allows 36% on a manually underwritten loan, up to 45% with credit and reserves, and up to 50% through Desktop Underwriter. For FHA, HUD Handbook 4000.1 gives standard ratios of 31% for housing and 43% for total debt on a manually underwritten loan, and automated approvals and compensating factors can allow higher. Confirm the current limit with your lender. This site could not confirm VA or USDA ratios on a primary page, so it shows no number for them. Check with your lender.
- Can I get a mortgage with a DTI over 43%?
- Often, yes. The CFPB's General QM rule, which applies to applications from March 1, 2021 and became mandatory on October 1, 2022, removed the old 43% cap and tests the loan's price instead. A lender must still consider your debt-to-income ratio or residual income and verify your debts. Fannie Mae's own limits run to 50%, so lender and program limits, not 43%, are what you will meet.