Rent calculator: how much rent can I afford?

How much rent can I afford?

You can typically afford rent of about 30% of your gross monthly income, before taxes. Multiply your annual salary by 0.3 and divide by 12. On $60,000 that’s $1,500 a month; on $90,000 it’s $2,250.

The calculator above runs three checks at once, because no single rule tells the whole story:

Rule	What it measures	Formula	Who uses it
30% rule	Whether rent leaves room for everything else	Gross annual income × 0.30 ÷ 12	Census Bureau, HUD, budgeting advice
40x rule	Whether you pass a landlord’s income test	Gross annual income ÷ 40	Landlords, especially in New York City
3x rule	The same test, monthly	Gross monthly income ÷ 3	Landlords nationwide
50/30/20 budget	Whether rent fits once debts are paid	Needs capped at 50% of take-home pay	Personal budgeting

Use the lowest number that comes out of these as your comfortable ceiling. Use the highest as the most a landlord is likely to approve.

Where does the 30% rule come from?

The 30% rule comes from federal housing policy, and it’s how the government decides who is “cost-burdened.” The Census Bureau, citing HUD’s definition, counts a household as cost-burdened when housing costs exceed 30% of income, and severely cost-burdened above 50%.

The number has a long history. A Congressional Research Service report from May 2026 traces the idea to the old saying “a week’s wages for a month’s rent.” In 1969 the Brooke Amendment capped public housing rent at 25% of income. Laws passed in 1981 and 1983 raised that cap to 30% for federal rental assistance, and the 30% line stuck as the standard measure of affordability.

Two details matter when you use it:

• It’s based on gross income. That’s pay before taxes, health insurance and retirement contributions.
• It includes utilities. The Census Bureau’s “gross rent” adds the utilities you pay to the base rent. If your lease doesn’t include utilities, subtract them from your 30% figure before you shop.

The 30% rule is a measuring stick, not a law of nature. Someone with no debt and a short commute can go a little higher. Someone repaying student loans should go lower.

What is the 40x rent rule?

The 40x rule says your gross annual income should be at least 40 times the monthly rent. For a $2,500 apartment, a landlord using it wants to see $100,000 a year, according to StreetEasy. Some New York buildings ask for 50 times.

Outside New York, most landlords phrase it as “3 times the rent”: monthly gross income of at least three times the monthly rent. Caretaker’s example: a $2,500 apartment needs $7,500 a month, or $90,000 a year. The 3x rule is slightly looser than 40x, because three months of rent equals 36 times the rent per year, not 40.

Here’s a neat fact the calculator shows: 40x and 30% give the same answer. Dividing annual income by 40 is the same as taking 2.5% of it, and 30% of a year’s income spread over 12 months is also 2.5%. So if you pass the 30% test, you pass the 40x test.

Landlords use gross income and ask you to prove it with pay stubs, an offer letter or tax returns. If you’re short, a guarantor is the usual fix. Caretaker notes guarantors are often asked to earn 80 to 100 times the monthly rent. Our rental application guide covers what to bring, and the credit score guide explains the other half of approval.

Why do your debts change the answer?

Debt payments come out of the same paycheck as rent, so they shrink what you can safely spend. The 30% rule ignores them; your budget can’t.

Lenders measure this with a debt-to-income ratio. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau defines it as all monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income. Its example: $2,000 of monthly debt on $6,000 of gross income is a 33% ratio.

Consider two renters, each earning $72,000 a year ($6,000 a month gross):

	Renter A	Renter B
Car and student loan payments	$0	$700
30% rule rent	$1,800	$1,800
Rent plus debt as share of gross income	30%	42%
Rent that keeps rent plus debt near 40%	$2,400	$1,700

Both pass a landlord’s 40x test at $1,800. Only Renter A has real breathing room. Enter your monthly debt payments in the calculator to see how the 50/30/20 view changes.

How much rent can I afford by salary?

At 30% of gross income, rent tops out at $750 a month on a $30,000 salary and $3,750 on $150,000. The 40x column gives the same numbers. The 3x column shows the most a landlord using that rule would usually approve.

Annual gross income	Monthly gross income	30% rule max rent	3x rule max rent
$30,000	$2,500	$750	$833
$40,000	$3,333	$1,000	$1,111
$50,000	$4,167	$1,250	$1,389
$60,000	$5,000	$1,500	$1,667
$70,000	$5,833	$1,750	$1,944
$75,000	$6,250	$1,875	$2,083
$80,000	$6,667	$2,000	$2,222
$90,000	$7,500	$2,250	$2,500
$100,000	$8,333	$2,500	$2,778
$120,000	$10,000	$3,000	$3,333
$150,000	$12,500	$3,750	$4,167

Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar. If you split rent with a roommate, each person’s income is usually tested against their share. StreetEasy notes that many New York landlords apply 40x to each tenant’s portion.

How does rent fit a 50/30/20 budget?

The 50/30/20 budget puts 50% of take-home pay toward needs, 30% toward wants and 20% toward savings and extra debt payoff. Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi popularized it in their 2005 book “All Your Worth.” Acorns notes that needs include housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance and minimum debt payments.

Rent is the biggest need, but it isn’t the only one. If rent alone eats 40% of take-home pay, only 10% is left for groceries, transit, utilities and minimum loan payments. The calculator shows how much of the needs bucket is left once rent and debts are in.

Because 50/30/20 runs on take-home pay and the 30% rule runs on gross pay, the two can disagree. When they do, trust the stricter one.

What other costs come with renting?

Rent is only the headline number. Budget for these too, especially in your first month:

Cost	Typical range	When you pay
Security deposit	Often one month’s rent; capped in some states	Before move-in
First month’s rent	100% of rent	Before move-in
Application fees	Varies by landlord; capped in some states	When you apply
Utilities	Electricity, gas, water, trash, internet	Monthly
Renters insurance	About $14 to $23 a month on average	Monthly or yearly
Moving costs	A truck rental for a local move up to movers for a long-distance one	Moving day
Parking, pet rent, amenity fees	Varies by building	Monthly

Deposit rules vary by state. Our security deposit guide explains caps and return deadlines.

Renters insurance is one of the smallest line items, and many leases require it. Our renters insurance cost guide breaks down averages by state. It’s worth pricing before you sign, so the total is in your budget from day one.

A good rule for move-in cash: have the first month’s rent, the deposit and about one more month’s rent saved. That covers fees, moving costs and the first round of utility bills.

What if my rent is more than 30% of my income?

You’re far from alone. The Census Bureau reported that 49.7% of renter households were cost-burdened in 2023. A Congressional Research Service analysis of 2024 data found 22.7 million renter households, or 49.4%, spending more than 30% of income on housing, and 26.2% spending more than half.

If you’re over the line, these steps help most:

1. Add a roommate or move to a larger unit with one. Splitting a two-bedroom often costs less per person than a studio.
2. Negotiate at renewal. Ask what it would take to keep your rent flat for a longer lease term.
3. Cut the other needs. Cheaper internet, a higher renters insurance deductible or a transit pass instead of a parking spot each free up money.
4. Pay down debt. Every $100 of monthly debt you clear is $100 more of room for rent.
5. Check assistance. Local housing agencies run programs for households above the cost-burden line.

If you’re weighing whether to keep renting at all, our rent vs buy calculator compares the total cost of each over time.

Bottom line

Aim for rent at or below 30% of your gross income, and lower if you carry debt. Landlords will usually approve you at 40 times the rent in annual income, which is the same ceiling, or at 3 times monthly income, which is a little higher. Leave room for utilities, renters insurance and the move itself. Run your numbers through the calculator before you apply, so you shop in the range you can actually carry.