How much house can your income carry?

The 28/36 rule, plain English

Most conventional mortgage lenders cap your housing payment at 28% of gross monthly income (front-end ratio) and your total monthly debt at 36% (back-end ratio). The lower of those two limits is your effective housing budget. The calculator picks the binding one automatically.

Why your debt payments matter as much as your income

A borrower making $90,000 with $200/month in debts qualifies for a meaningfully bigger mortgage than one making $90,000 with $1,500/month. The 36% all-debt cap is the one that quietly disqualifies most almost-buyers — see our DTI explainer.

What this number IS and ISN'T

This is what a typical lender will approve, not what you should spend. Lifestyle, savings goals, kids, retirement — the right number is usually less than the max. FHA goes higher (up to 50% back-end with compensating factors); conventional rarely flexes above 45%.