How much rent can you afford?
Affordable rent = gross monthly income × 30%
The 30% guideline comes from U.S. housing policy: the Department of Housing and Urban Development considers a household cost burdened when it spends more than 30% of its income on housing. It is a starting point, not a limit. Someone with no debts and a high income can spend more comfortably; someone with large loan payments may need to spend less.
The 3× rule landlords use
Many landlords and property managers require gross monthly income of about three times the rent. That works out to roughly 33% of income, slightly looser than the 30% guideline. On a $72,000 salary, 30% is $1,800 a month and the 3× rule allows $2,000.
Count your debts
Rent is only one fixed cost. The calculator adds your monthly debt payments to the rent and shows the combined share of income and what is left for taxes, food, transport, savings and everything else. If the combined share is well above 40%, the budget will be tight.
For landlords
Run the numbers the other way to set screening criteria: the income needed for a given rent is the rent times 36 under a 3× rule. Apply the same written standard to every applicant. See our guide to tenant screening.