Rent-to-Income Ratio Calculator

Your rent-to-income ratio is the share of gross income that goes to housing. HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau call a household cost-burdened when rent and utilities take more than 30% of income, and severely cost-burdened above 50%. Landlords look at the same numbers the other way round, as a multiple of rent. This calculator shows both views.

How to use this tool

1. Enter the monthly rent.
2. Add the utilities you pay on top of rent, or 0 if they are included.
3. Enter your gross household income and choose yearly or monthly.
4. Read the ratio, the cost-burden level and the income each landlord rule asks for.

Formula

Ratio = (rent + utilities) ÷ gross monthly income × 100
Multiple = yearly income ÷ monthly rent

Gross monthly income is yearly income ÷ 12. The 30% guideline needs yearly income of (rent + utilities) × 12 ÷ 0.30. The 40× rule needs 40 × rent a year, and the 3× rule needs 3 × rent each month (36 × rent a year).

Example

Rent of $1,800 plus $150 of utilities on $65,000 a year ($5,416.67 a month) is a 36% ratio, so the household counts as cost-burdened. Rent alone is 33.2% of income, and yearly income is 36.1 times the monthly rent, short of the $72,000 a 40× landlord would want. Keeping housing at 30% with these utilities would take $78,000 a year.