Debt-to-income ratio
DTIWhat is debt-to-income ratio?
DTI is your total monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. Lenders use it to judge capacity; you can use it as a personal budgeting ceiling.
How it is calculated
DTI = (total monthly debt payments ÷ gross monthly income) × 100
What it means in practice
The back-end ratio counts housing plus all other debt payments. The front-end ratio counts housing alone.
Common conventional guidelines land near 43% to 50% back-end, though automated underwriting approves higher with compensating factors. That is an approval threshold, not a comfort threshold.
The affordability calculator here treats DTI as a planning assumption you set yourself. Being approved for a payment and being comfortable with it are different questions.