Home › Debt-to-Income Calculator
Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator
Enter your gross monthly income and your monthly debt payments to get both front-end and back-end DTI — the numbers a mortgage underwriter actually looks at. Free, no signup.
The short answer
Your debt-to-income ratio is total monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income. It is the single most important affordability number in lending, because it measures how much of your income is already spoken for before a new loan is added.
Under 36% is comfortable everywhere. 36–43% is still widely approvable. 43–50% usually needs compensating factors. Above 50% is past what most automated underwriting will clear.
Unlike a credit score, DTI is a number you can move deliberately and quickly — and it moves in bigger jumps than most people expect, for a reason covered in how to lower DTI fastest.
Front-end vs back-end DTI
There are two ratios and they answer different questions. Most pages mention both and then quietly use only one.
The gap between them is everything you owe that is not your home. Here is the same household — $6,000 gross, $1,800 housing — with debts added one at a time:
| Other debt carried | Front-end | Back-end | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 30.0% | 30.0% | Good |
| Car $450 | 30.0% | 37.5% | Acceptable |
| + Student $280 | 30.0% | 42.2% | Acceptable |
| + Cards $120 | 30.0% | 44.2% | High |
The trap this table shows
The front-end ratio never moves. Housing is unchanged at a perfectly healthy 30% in every row — yet the file goes from comfortably approvable to a High band that needs compensating factors. If you judge affordability by your rent alone, you will be blindsided at underwriting by debts you had stopped thinking about.
The 43% rule no longer exists
You will read almost everywhere that 43% is a legal maximum for a mortgage. It was, and it isn't any more.
The 43% cap came from the General Qualified Mortgage definition under the Ability-to-Repay rule. In December 2020 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalised a rule that removed the DTI threshold entirely and replaced it with a price-based test — the spread between the loan's APR and the average prime offer rate. The DTI-based definition stopped being available for applications received on or after 1 July 2021.
What that means in practice
43% is now a useful benchmark, not a rule. Crossing it does not disqualify you, and staying under it does not guarantee anything. What decides your file is the lender's automated underwriting result, which weighs your DTI alongside credit score, reserves, down payment and loan pricing.
We flag this because a page that still calls 43% a legal ceiling is telling you something that stopped being true over five years ago — and it may talk you out of an application you would pass.
What lenders actually allow
These are published programme guidelines, not hard cut-offs. Every one of them bends with documented compensating factors, and the final answer comes from automated underwriting.
| Programme | Front-end guideline | Back-end guideline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic 28/36 rule | 28% | 36% | The traditional rule of thumb. Conservative, and still the target worth aiming at. |
| Conventional | — | up to 50% | Automated underwriting frequently accepts to 50%; above ~45% reserves and credit carry more weight. |
| FHA | 31% | 43% | Commonly cited baseline; extends materially higher with documented compensating factors. |
| VA | — | 41% | A guideline only — VA's real test is residual income, money left after all obligations. |
| USDA | 29% | 41% | Applies to eligible rural properties with income limits. |
Notice that the only programme with a genuinely distinct philosophy is VA. Residual income asks how many dollars are left after everything, not what percentage — which is a better question, because 40% of $12,000 leaves far more to live on than 40% of $3,000.
What counts as debt — and what doesn't
This is where self-calculated DTI most often goes wrong. The rule is narrower than "money I have to pay every month": DTI counts debt obligations, not living costs.
| Counts toward DTI | Does not count |
|---|---|
| Rent, or the full mortgage payment including property tax and insurance | Utilities — electricity, gas, water |
| Car loans and leases | Groceries and household spending |
| Student loans (usually including deferred ones) | Phone and internet bills |
| Credit card minimum payments | Health, life and car insurance premiums |
| Personal and installment loans | Streaming and other subscriptions |
| Child support and alimony (court-ordered) | Retirement contributions and savings transfers |
| Co-signed loans, even if someone else pays them | Childcare costs |
Two that surprise people
Co-signed loans count against you even when the other person has never missed a payment. You are legally liable, so underwriting treats it as your obligation unless you can document twelve months of payments made by someone else.
Deferred student loans usually still count. Most programmes require the lender to use the documented payment or a calculated percentage of the balance. A $0 payment showing on your credit report rarely produces a $0 figure in the file.
Why DTI flatters your budget
Here is the honest disclosure that most DTI pages leave out. Lenders divide by gross income; you live on net income. The ratio is therefore systematically kinder than your actual month.
Take the household from the worked example below: $72,000 salary, $2,650 of monthly debt. Running that salary through our own paycheck calculator — single filer, no state tax, no pre-tax contributions — gives $4,957/month take-home at a 17.4% effective rate.
| Same debt, two denominators | Income | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| What the lender sees (gross) | $6,000 | 44.2% |
| What your budget feels (net) | $4,957 | 53.5% |
A 9.3 percentage point gap, on an ordinary salary with no state income tax. In a high-tax state the gap is wider. After debt payments this household has $2,307 of take-home left for food, utilities, transport, insurance, childcare and saving — which is the number that determines whether the month works, and it appears nowhere in any lending decision.
Use both numbers, for different jobs
Use DTI on gross to predict what a lender will say. Use take-home pay to decide what you can actually live with — that is what the 50/30/20 calculator is for. A file that passes underwriting at 45% can still be a household that runs out of money in week three.
A worked example, start to finish
Every figure below is produced by the calculator on this page — enter the same inputs and you will get the same output.
| Input | Amount | Share of gross |
|---|---|---|
| Gross monthly income | $6,000 | — |
| Housing (rent, incl. insurance) | $1,800 | 30.0% |
| Car loan | $450 | 7.5% |
| Student loans | $280 | 4.7% |
| Credit card minimums | $120 | 2.0% |
| Total monthly debt | $2,650 | 44.2% |
Front-end 30.0%. Back-end 44.2% — the High band. Now the position against each threshold:
| At a DTI of | Max total debt | This household |
|---|---|---|
| 36% | $2,160 | $490/mo over |
| 43% | $2,580 | $70/mo over |
| 45% | $2,700 | $50/mo of room |
| 50% | $3,000 | $350/mo of room |
Read the 43% row carefully: this household is over that benchmark by $70 a month. Not a structural problem — a rounding error in the life of a budget. That is how close to a threshold most people sit without knowing it, and it is exactly why the next section matters.
How to lower DTI fastest
The instinct is to pay a bit more toward everything. That is the slowest possible route. DTI is built from payments, not balances, so shaving a little off several debts changes almost nothing until a payment actually disappears.
Eliminate one whole payment instead
Take the same household and pay off just the credit card — the smallest balance, carrying a $120 minimum:
Back-end DTI: 44.2% → 42.2%. The band moves from High to Acceptable, and the household crosses back under the 43% benchmark.
A 2.0 point move, and a change of lending category, from freeing up $120 a month. Nothing else about the household changed.
This is the same logic that makes the snowball method work on debt payoff — smallest balance first clears a whole obligation soonest. Use the debt payoff calculator to see which of your balances disappears first, then re-run this page.
The other levers, in rough order of speed:
- Don't open anything new. A car loan taken out weeks before a mortgage application is the classic self-inflicted wound — it adds a payment to the ratio at the worst moment.
- Refinance to a longer term. This lowers the monthly payment and therefore DTI, while increasing total interest paid. A legitimate tactic for qualifying, and a real cost — know which trade you are making.
- Document income you already have. Stable overtime, bonus or side income with a two-year history can often be counted. This raises the denominator without changing anything you do.
- Raise gross income. Effective but slow. For our example household, reaching 36% by income alone would need $1,361/month more gross — about $16,333 a year, versus cutting $490/month of debt payments.
Max debt at every income level
What your total monthly debt payments can be at each threshold. Find your gross monthly income, read across.
| Gross monthly income | At 28% | At 36% | At 43% | At 50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 | $840 | $1,080 | $1,290 | $1,500 |
| $4,000 | $1,120 | $1,440 | $1,720 | $2,000 |
| $5,000 | $1,400 | $1,800 | $2,150 | $2,500 |
| $6,000 | $1,680 | $2,160 | $2,580 | $3,000 |
| $7,500 | $2,100 | $2,700 | $3,225 | $3,750 |
| $9,000 | $2,520 | $3,240 | $3,870 | $4,500 |
| $12,000 | $3,360 | $4,320 | $5,160 | $6,000 |
To turn any row into a house-hunting budget, subtract your existing non-housing debt payments. On $6,000 gross with $850 of car and student payments, a 36% target leaves $1,310 for housing and a 43% target leaves $1,730 — including property tax and insurance, not just principal and interest.
How this calculator works
Stated assumptions
| Assumption | Effect on your result |
|---|---|
| Band edges are inclusive — exactly 36.0% reads as Good, 36.1% as Acceptable. | Only matters within 0.1 point of a boundary. |
| Whatever you type as a credit card minimum is used as-is; the calculator does not recompute minimums from balances. | If your balance falls, your real minimum falls too, and your true DTI is slightly better than shown. |
| Housing is taken as one figure. Property tax and insurance must be included by you. | Entering principal and interest only understates your ratio — often by several points. |
| Lender guidelines shown are programme baselines, not the decision. | Automated underwriting can approve above them or decline below them. |
| No rental income, no non-occupant co-borrower, and no self-employment adjustments are modelled. | These cases need a lender's calculation, not a generic one. |
Your figures are kept in your browser's local storage so the page remembers them next visit. Nothing is sent anywhere. The logic is the open JavaScript source — the formulas above are exactly what it runs.
🖨️ Free printable debt tracker
List every balance, minimum and APR in one place — the sheet that makes this calculation take two minutes. Enter your email and we’ll send the PDF.
Glossary
- Debt-to-income ratio (DTI)
- Total monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income, as a percentage. The main affordability test in lending.
- Front-end ratio
- Housing payment alone against gross monthly income. Sometimes called the housing ratio.
- Back-end ratio
- Housing plus all other monthly debt payments against gross income. This is what "DTI" means with no qualifier.
- Gross income
- Income before tax and deductions. The denominator in every lender's DTI calculation.
- PITI
- Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance — the full housing payment that belongs in the ratio, not just principal and interest.
- Ability-to-Repay (ATR) rule
- The regulation requiring lenders to make a reasonable, good-faith determination that a borrower can repay a mortgage.
- Qualified Mortgage (QM)
- A loan category meeting standards that give lenders legal protection. Its General definition used a 43% DTI cap until 1 July 2021, when a price-based test replaced it.
- Compensating factors
- Documented strengths — cash reserves, high credit score, large down payment, long job stability — that support approval above normal guideline ratios.
- Residual income
- Dollars left after all obligations, rather than a percentage. VA's core affordability test, and arguably a more honest one.
- Credit utilisation
- Balances against credit limits. Affects your credit score, and is frequently confused with DTI, which does not.
Frequently asked questions
What is a debt-to-income ratio?
Total monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income, as a percentage. It measures how much of your income is already committed before a new loan is added.
Is DTI calculated on gross or net income?
Gross — before tax. This is why DTI always looks better than your budget feels: on a $72,000 salary, $2,650 of debt is 44.2% of gross but 53.5% of take-home pay.
What is the difference between front-end and back-end DTI?
Front-end counts housing only; back-end counts housing plus every other debt payment. Back-end is what lenders mean, and it is almost always the binding constraint — see the comparison table.
Is 43% still the legal limit for a mortgage?
No. The CFPB removed the 43% DTI cap from the General Qualified Mortgage definition and replaced it with a price-based test, effective for applications from 1 July 2021. Full explanation.
What is a good debt-to-income ratio?
Under 36% is strong across every mainstream programme; under 28% is excellent. 36–43% is widely approvable. Above 50% is beyond most automated underwriting.
What counts as debt in a DTI calculation?
Housing, car loans, student loans, card minimums, personal loans, and court-ordered support. Not utilities, groceries, phone, insurance premiums or subscriptions — see the full table.
Do student loans in deferment count?
Usually yes. Most programmes require the documented payment or a calculated percentage of the balance, even when deferred. A $0 payment on your credit report rarely means $0 in the file.
How do I lower my DTI quickly?
Eliminate a whole payment rather than trimming several. In our example, clearing a card with a $120 minimum moved DTI 44.2% → 42.2% and changed the band. Why that works.
Does paying down a card help if I keep it?
Partially — minimums are usually a percentage of balance, so the payment falls as the balance does. But only paying it off entirely removes it from the ratio.
What DTI do FHA, VA and conventional loans allow?
As guidelines: FHA around 31/43, VA 41 (with residual income as the real test), conventional often to 50 via automated underwriting. Full table — all bend with compensating factors.
Does my spouse's debt count?
Only if they are on the application. Applying jointly counts both incomes and both debts. In community property states, some government-backed loans count a non-applicant spouse's debts.
Will a high DTI hurt my credit score?
No — credit scores do not use income at all. You may be thinking of credit utilisation, which is balances against limits. The two are commonly confused.
How much house can I afford based on DTI?
Gross income × target ratio − existing non-housing debts = maximum housing payment. On $6,000 gross with $850 of other debt: $1,310 at 36%, $1,730 at 43% — including tax and insurance.
Is my data private?
Yes. Everything runs in your browser; your figures stay in your own browser's local storage and are never uploaded.
Sources and further reading
- CFPB — final rules on General QM and Seasoned QM — the rulemaking that removed the 43% DTI threshold in favour of a price-based test.
- Congressional Research Service — The Qualified Mortgage Rule and Recent Revisions — independent summary confirming the DTI-based General QM ended for applications received on or after 1 July 2021.
- CFPB — What is a debt-to-income ratio? — the regulator's own plain-language definition.
- HUD Handbook 4000.1 — FHA underwriting guidelines, including qualifying ratios and compensating factors.
- VA Lenders Handbook (Pamphlet 26-7) — the VA debt-to-income guideline and the residual income requirement.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Consumer Expenditure Survey — official data on US household spending by category.
- Take-home pay figures on this page are computed with our own paycheck calculator using 2026 federal brackets and FICA rates, so the two pages always agree.
- Calculation logic is the open JavaScript source; the formulas are reproduced under how this calculator works.
Related calculators
BudgetBee provides free educational tools, not financial advice. Lending guidelines described here are general programme baselines that change over time and vary by lender; they are not an offer, a pre-qualification, or a prediction of any underwriting decision. Verify important decisions with a qualified professional.