Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator

Work out your debt-to-income ratio from your gross income and monthly debt payments. See your housing and total ratios, what each payment adds, and how much room you have, or how much to cut, to reach a target. Your inputs stay in your browser.

Your income and debts

Income

Everyone who will be on the loan.

That income is

Monthly debt payments

Rent, or mortgage with taxes, insurance, PMI and HOA dues.

The minimum due, not the balance.

Your target

36% is a common guideline; lenders set their own limits.

Debt-to-income 43.2% · housing 30%. See full results

Example: $72,000.00 a year of gross income, a $1,800.00 housing payment and $790.00 a month of other debt payments (illustrative figures). Enter your numbers to update.

Your debt-to-income ratio

Debt-to-income ratio
43.2%
$2,590.00 of $6,000.00 gross monthly income
Housing ratio
30%
Housing payment only (front-end)
To reach 36%
$430.00/month
Less in monthly debt payments

Your total ratio is above your 36% target. Paying $430.00 less each month, for example by paying off a loan, would bring it to the target.

Each payment as a share of gross monthly income

PaymentPer monthOf income
Housing payment $1,800.0030%
Auto loans $420.007%
Student loans $250.004.2%
Credit card minimums $120.002%
Total $2,590.0043.2%

Lenders set their own limits and may count income and debts differently, for example including a new loan's payment.

What debt-to-income measures

Your debt-to-income ratio is all your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income, before taxes and deductions. Lenders use it to judge whether you can manage the payments on money you borrow (CFPB: what is a debt-to-income ratio?). In the CFPB's example, $2,000.00 of payments on $6,000.00 of income is 33%, which this calculator reproduces.

Housing ratio and total ratio

  • Housing (front-end) ratio: the housing payment alone. In the example it is 30%.
  • Total (back-end) ratio: housing plus every other debt payment: 43.2% in the example.

Guidelines such as 28% and 36% are rules of thumb, not law, and lenders set their own limits. Our home affordability calculator turns these limits into a home price.

Lowering your ratio

The ratio falls when payments go down or income goes up. Paying off the example's $420.00 car payment would take the total ratio from 43.2% to 36.2%. Our loan payoff calculator shows how extra payments shorten a loan. Only the required monthly payment counts, so for credit cards use the minimum due, not the balance.

What this calculator does not include

  • Everyday bills such as utilities, groceries and insurance premiums, which are not debt payments.
  • Lender-specific rules for counting income (for example variable or self-employment income) or for estimating payments on deferred loans.

Results are estimates, not a loan decision or financial advice.

Methodology and testing

Ratios are payments ÷ gross monthly income × 100; yearly income is divided by 12. If you are paid by the hour, the Hourly to Salary Calculator converts your wage to monthly income. Automated tests reproduce the CFPB's worked example and check that the payment reduction shown brings the ratio exactly to your target. How we build and test calculators.

Sources

  • What is a debt-to-income ratio?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Debt-to-income is all monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income; lenders use it to measure the ability to manage payments.
  • Home Affordability Calculator

    Maximum home price from income, debts and down payment, the debt-to-income limit that binds, and the price at other rates.

  • Loan Payoff Calculator

    Payoff date and interest saved with monthly, yearly or lump-sum extras, and the extra needed to be debt-free by a set time.

  • Credit Card Payoff Calculator

    Months to pay off, total interest, extra-payment savings, the payment needed for a debt-free date, and a payoff schedule.