How to use the rent affordability calculator
- Enter your gross annual income — before tax. Add both incomes if you're renting with a partner or roommate.
- Enter your monthly debt payments: car loan, student loans, credit card minimums and other loans. Leave out your current rent.
- Read your recommended rent and the comfortable, standard and stretch levels.
- Type a specific rent to see the income landlords will expect and what share of your income it would take.
Save, print or share your rent budget
You don't have to start over next time. Under the calculator you can:
- Save the calculation in your browser with a name, then reopen it from "Saved calculations" whenever you like.
- Copy a link that reopens this exact calculation with all your numbers — on your phone, another computer or for someone you're planning with.
- Print a clean one-page report, or download it as a PDF. It shows your comfortable, standard and stretch rent levels and the income landlords will expect, plus a QR code at the top: scan it with your phone camera and the calculation opens again with every number filled in.
- Download a CSV to open in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.
Nothing is uploaded: saved calculations stay on your device, and the link and QR code carry your inputs inside the address itself.
The three rent levels explained
Comfortable — 25% of gross income. Leaves real room for saving, emergencies and fun. A good target if you're building an emergency fund or paying off debt.
Standard — 30% of gross income. The classic guideline, and the same as the landlord 40× rule (annual income ÷ 40 = 30% of monthly income).
Stretch — rent plus debts at 43% of income. The level many lenders treat as the upper limit for all housing and debt together. Possible, but your budget will be tight.
The recommended figure is the lower of the 30% rule and the amount that keeps your rent plus other debts at 36% of income — so heavy debt payments reduce what's sensible.
Why your debts matter
Two people earning $60,000 are in very different positions if one has a $500 car payment. Lenders and many landlords look at your debt-to-income ratio, not just your salary. If debts push your safe rent down, the debt payoff calculator shows when payments will disappear.
Check rent against take-home pay too
The 30% rule uses gross income, but you pay rent from take-home pay. Work out your real paycheck with the take-home pay calculator, then put it into the 50/30/20 budget calculator: rent and all other needs should fit in about half. Our guide to what is safe to spend shows how much you have left after rent and bills.
Costs beyond the monthly rent
- Security deposit (often one month's rent) and application fees
- Utilities, internet and renter's insurance
- Parking, storage and pet rent
- Moving costs and furniture
Budget for these before you sign, so the first month doesn't land on a credit card.
Are you on the landlord side?
If you rent out a property, RentRoll, the VaultlyApps landlord dashboard, keeps your rent roll, expenses and maintenance in one private file and shows what each unit really earns. For an investment you're thinking of buying, try the rental property calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Can I save, print or download my rent budget?
How much rent can I afford on $60,000 a year?
What is the 40x rent rule?
Is the 30% rule realistic?
Should I use gross or take-home income?
What other costs should I budget for when renting?
What if two people are renting together?
Written by
Finance Specialist & Editor, VaultlyApps
Emma Whitfield writes and edits the VaultlyApps money guides and free calculators. Her focus is US household finance — budgeting on a real paycheck, paying down credit card and student debt, emergency funds and savings goals, renting — and the money side of freelancing and small-business income, from pricing and profit margins to self-employment tax. Every guide is researched against primary sources such as IRS publications and the CFPB, every number is checked in our tested calculators, and tax content is reviewed each year when new IRS figures come out. Emma is not a licensed financial adviser or tax preparer; her work is general education, not personal advice.
Researched against primary US sources, checked against independent calculators and reviewed by a finance expert on our team. Written for US readers — general education, not financial, tax or legal advice. Editorial policy · Disclaimer
