How much rent can I afford, and where?

How much rent you can afford

The most common guideline is to keep rent at or below 30% of your gross (before-tax) income. It isn’t a law, but it’s what housing agencies use to define a cost burden, and it leaves room for other bills and savings. On $75,000 a year, that’s about $1,875 a month.

The three numbers we show

• 30% of gross income: the comfortable target.
• Rent plus debts within 40% of income: if car payments, student loans or credit cards take a big share of your income, a rent at 30% can still stretch you. We use the lower of the two as your budget.
• Most landlords’ limit: many landlords require your income to be at least three times the rent (some use 40 times the monthly rent per year). That’s a ceiling to qualify, not a comfortable budget.

Where your budget works

We compare your budget with HUD’s Small Area Fair Market Rents for every ZIP code: what recent movers typically pay for a unit your size, including utilities, updated each October. Pick a state or a place and distance, and we list the ZIP codes where that rent fits. Searching near a place lists the closest first; otherwise we start with the highest rents that still fit, which are usually the most in-demand neighborhoods you can afford.

If you’re saving to buy

Every $100 a month you keep below your budget is $1,200 a year toward a down payment and closing costs. If rent in your area is close to what a mortgage would cost, compare the two with the rent vs. buy tool; if you’re saving, the down payment timeline shows how long it will take.

Questions buyers ask