Rent Affordability Calculator
See how much rent fits your income — by the 30% rule and after your existing debts.
How to use the Rent Affordability Calculator
- Enter your monthly take-home pay.
- Add your existing monthly debt payments.
- Pick a rule and read the affordable rent.
Affordable rent = min(income × your %, income × 40% − existing debts)
About the Rent Affordability Calculator
This calculator gives you two views of what you can afford and reports the lower — safer — of the two. The first is the familiar rule of thumb: a percentage of your monthly take-home pay, which you set to 25, 30, 35 or 40%. The second adjusts for what you already owe, capping total housing plus existing debt at about 40% of income and then subtracting your current debt payments. Whichever comes out smaller is shown as the affordable rent, along with the annual figure.
The debt-adjusted view is the one worth watching, because it is closer to how a lender or letting agency actually thinks — two people on the same salary can afford very different rents once loans and card payments are counted. The 30% rule on its own ignores that entirely.
This is a budgeting guide, not a lending decision. It works from take-home (net) pay rather than gross, and it makes no allowance for your local cost of living, utilities, savings or the other essentials a rent figure has to share the month with. Landlords set their own income multiples too. For the buy-side equivalent, use the mortgage calculator, and to build a deposit, the savings goal calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Should I enter gross or take-home pay?
Take-home (net) pay — the amount that actually reaches your account after tax and deductions. Using gross pay would overstate what you can comfortably put toward rent, since a large slice never lands in your hands.
Why does the result sometimes ignore the percentage I chose?
Because it reports the lower of two figures: your chosen percentage of income, and what is left after existing debts under a 40% cap. If your debts are high, the debt-adjusted figure wins and the percentage you picked is no longer the binding limit.
Is the 30% rule an actual rule?
No, it is a long-standing rule of thumb, not a law. It is a useful starting point, but the right share of income for you depends on your other costs, your savings goals and where you live.
Will a landlord accept this as proof I can afford the rent?
Not necessarily. Landlords and letting agencies apply their own criteria, often requiring income of around two-and-a-half to three times the rent, or a guarantor. Treat this as your own budgeting check rather than their decision.
Does it account for bills and cost of living?
No. It looks only at income and existing debt payments. Utilities, groceries, transport, savings and local price levels all come out of the same pay, so leave room for them on top of the rent figure.