Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator
With gross monthly income 7500 usd, housing payment 2100 usd, car payments 520 usd, student loans 280 usd and 2 more fields, debt-to-income ratio comes to 40.7 % — back-end dti. It is reached in 8 steps, the last of which is 3050 / 7500 * 100, and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by US CFPB, not an approximation fitted to it.
Front-end and back-end DTI from your monthly debts, plus the largest housing payment that still fits under each lender ceiling.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Gross monthly income 7500, Housing payment 2100, Car payments 520, Student loans 280
40.7 %
Back-end DTI for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Debt payments other than housing
520 + 280 + 150 + 0950- Total monthly debt payments
2100 + 9503,050- Back-end DTI
3050 / 7500 * 10040.667 %- Front-end DTI (housing only)
2100 / 7500 * 10028 %- Largest housing payment at 43%
max(0, 7500 * 0.43 - 950)$2,275- Largest housing payment at 50%
max(0, 7500 * 0.5 - 950)$2,800- Monthly debt you could add before 43%
max(0, 7500 * 0.43 - 3050)175- Monthly debt to clear to reach 43%
max(0, 3050 - 7500 * 0.43)0
Ask about this in the chatDebt-to-Income Chart by Monthly Income
Worked example
$7,500 a month gross with $3,050 of debt payments is a 40.7% back-end DTI and a 28% front-end. There is $175 a month of room before 43%, and the housing payment could reach $2,275 at 43% or $2,800 at Fannie Mae's 50% ceiling.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Use gross monthly income, before tax. If your pay varies, lenders generally average the last two years.
- 2.Count only debt payments that appear on a credit report, plus court-ordered support. Utilities, groceries, phone bills and insurance premiums are not counted.
- 3.Back-end DTI is every debt payment divided by gross income. Front-end is housing alone, and both are quoted because lenders look at both.
- 4.Read the two housing-room lines. They answer the real question: given the debts you already have, how large a payment still clears the ceiling.
Largest housing payment by income
| Gross monthly income (usd) | Back-end DTI | Largest housing payment at 43% | Largest housing payment at 50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4000 | 76.3 % | $770 | $1,050 |
| 5000 | 61.0 % | $1,200 | $1,550 |
| 6000 | 50.8 % | $1,630 | $2,050 |
| 7500 | 40.7 % | $2,275 | $2,800 |
| 9000 | 33.9 % | $2,920 | $3,550 |
| 10000 | 30.5 % | $3,350 | $4,050 |
| 12500 | 24.4 % | $4,425 | $5,300 |
| 15000 | 20.3 % | $5,500 | $6,550 |
Holding the other debts fixed at $950 a month. The two columns are the 43% benchmark and Fannie Mae's 50% ceiling for loans run through Desktop Underwriter.
The formula
- Debt payments other than housing
520 + 280 + 150 + 0 - Total monthly debt payments
2100 + 950 - Back-end DTI
3050 / 7500 * 100 - Front-end DTI (housing only)
2100 / 7500 * 100 - Largest housing payment at 43%
max(0, 7500 * 0.43 - 950) - Largest housing payment at 50%
max(0, 7500 * 0.5 - 950) - Monthly debt you could add before 43%
max(0, 7500 * 0.43 - 3050) - Monthly debt to clear to reach 43%
max(0, 3050 - 7500 * 0.43)
Source: US CFPB — Qualified Mortgage definition: the General QM final rule replaced the 43% DTI limit with a price-based threshold, Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-6-02 — debt-to-income ratios, HUD Handbook 4000.1 — FHA single family housing policy, US CFPB — what is a debt-to-income ratio
Questions people actually ask
- Is 43% still the legal DTI limit for a mortgage?
- No, and this is the most common piece of stale information on the subject. The CFPB removed the 43% DTI limit from the General Qualified Mortgage definition and replaced it with a price-based threshold tied to the loan's APR against the average prime offer rate; the change became mandatory on 1 October 2022. 43% is still a widely used underwriting benchmark, but it is no longer what makes a loan a Qualified Mortgage.
- What DTI will actually get approved?
- It depends on the programme. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide allows up to 50% for loans run through Desktop Underwriter, and 36% for manually underwritten loans, extendable to 45% when credit score and reserve requirements are met. FHA sets 43% for manual underwriting and permits more with documented compensating factors. Above 45% the file needs strengths elsewhere: reserves, a large deposit, a high score.
- What counts as debt?
- Anything with a required monthly payment reported to credit: mortgage or rent, car loans and leases, student loans, credit card minimums, personal loans, plus court-ordered alimony and child support. Not counted: utilities, phone, groceries, health insurance, car insurance, or money you voluntarily save. Paying more than the minimum on a card does not raise your DTI, and paying only the minimum does not lower it.
- What is the fastest way to lower it?
- Clear the smallest balances with the largest minimums, not the largest balances. DTI counts the monthly payment, so eliminating a $450 car payment moves the ratio far more than paying $10,000 against a mortgage. The payoff line above shows exactly how much monthly payment has to disappear to reach 43%.
- Front-end or back-end — which one matters?
- Back-end is the binding constraint in nearly every programme; front-end is a secondary check that stops a borrower with no other debt from putting everything into housing. FHA's manual guideline pairs 31% front-end with 43% back-end, so both are shown here.
Related
- Mortgage Payment CalculatorMonthly principal-and-interest payment on a fixed-rate mortgage, plus total interest paid over the full term.
- Auto Loan CalculatorCar payment including sales tax, fees, and a trade-in — with the negative equity most calculators quietly leave out.
- Loan Payment CalculatorMonthly payment and total interest on any fixed-rate instalment loan — car, personal or student.
- Home Affordability CalculatorThe house price your income supports under the 28/36 rule, with property tax, insurance and HOA inside the limit rather than added on top.
- Home Equity CalculatorHow much equity you have, how much of it a lender will actually let you borrow, and what the payment on it would be.
- Budget CalculatorThe 50/30/20 split applied to your take-home pay, against what you are actually spending.
Part of a job
- Taking out a mortgage — 6 pages, in the order the questions arrive
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