Rent Affordability Calculator (28% & 30% Rule)
How much rent can you afford? Applies the 28%, 30%, or 40% rule to gross income and estimates net take-home after taxes, with a traffic-light verdict on rent-to-net ratio.
FINANCEFind out how much rent you can actually afford. This calculator applies the classic 28%, 30%, or 40% rule to your gross monthly income and shows your estimated take-home pay after federal tax, state tax, and FICA, plus a verdict on whether the resulting rent burden is comfortable, tight, or unaffordable.
The calculator multiplies gross monthly income by your chosen rule (0.28, 0.30, or 0.40) to get the maximum recommended rent, then subtracts existing monthly debt payments. It estimates federal tax using 2026 brackets and the $15,750 / $31,500 standard deduction, adds 7.65% FICA (Social Security + Medicare), and applies a flat state tax rate (0% in TX/FL/WA/NV/TN/AK/SD/WY/NH, around 5% in most other states, up to 9% in CA/NY/OR/HI/MN). Worked example: $6,000 gross/mo in Texas, single filer, with $400/mo of existing debts. Annual gross is $72,000. Standard deduction leaves $56,250 taxable, federal tax is roughly $7,665, FICA is about $5,508, and Texas state tax is $0 - so net take-home is about $4,900/mo. The 30% rule recommends roughly $1,800/mo for rent, which is about 37% of net - a green-light verdict.
Rent Affordability Calculator (28% & 30% Rule)
Figure out how much rent you can actually afford. Uses the 28%, 30%, or 40% rule applied to your gross monthly income, plus an estimate of your take-home pay after federal tax, state tax, and FICA.
How the Rent Rules Actually Work
The "30% rule" comes from a 1969 amendment to the US Housing Act, codified by HUD. Households spending more than 30% of gross income on housing are officially classified as "cost-burdened"; more than 50% is "severely cost-burdened." Most landlords and lenders still anchor to this number when they ask whether a tenant or borrower can afford a place.
In high cost-of-living metros - NYC, San Francisco, Boston, LA - the median renter spends 40-50% of income on rent, well past the HUD threshold. The market simply has not delivered enough housing at the 30% level, so people stretch. If you choose to live in one of these cities, treat 35-40% as the realistic ceiling and aggressively cut other categories (car, dining out, subscriptions) to make the math work.
A cleaner framework is the 50/30/20 budget: 50% of net income on needs (rent + utilities + groceries + transport), 30% on wants, 20% on savings and debt payoff. Inside the 50% needs bucket, rent itself should ideally sit around 25-30% of net. Separately, most US landlords require gross monthly income of 2.5x-3x the monthly rent before they will sign a lease - that is a screening rule, not an affordability rule.
Rough US estimate using 2026 federal brackets and approximate flat state rates. Actual take-home depends on 401(k), HSA, health insurance, local/city taxes, and benefits. Not tax or housing advice.