DTI Calculator
Will a Lender Approve Me?
Banks use something called a “debt-to-income ratio” (DTI) to decide if you can handle a mortgage. It’s simple: they add up all your monthly debt payments and divide by your monthly income. If the result is too high, they say no.
What you’ll need: Your monthly income (before taxes), the housing payment you’re targeting, and your other monthly debts (car payment, student loans, credit card minimums).
What you’ll get: Two ratios — your “housing ratio” (just housing costs vs income) and your “total debt ratio” (all debts vs income). Both are color-coded: green means you’d likely be approved, yellow means it’s tight, red means you need to reduce debt first.
The magic numbers: Most banks want housing costs under 28% of your income, and total debts under 36%. Some programs allow up to 43%.
Pre-tax, all sources
P&I + tax + insurance + PMI + HOA
Car, student loans, credit cards — not housing
Front-End DTI
Housing only · Target: ≤28%
Back-End DTI
All debts · Target: ≤36%
ACCEPTABLE
You meet FHA guidelines and many conventional lenders. Some may require compensating factors like high credit or large reserves.
Your front-end DTI (28.0%) exceeds the 28% guideline. Consider targeting a lower housing payment — reduce by $0/mo to meet the threshold.
How Your Income Breaks Down
Debt Payoff Optimizer
Enter your individual debts to see which payoff moves your DTI the fastest. Ranked by impact per dollar paid off.
Payoff Priority (highest impact first)
Paying off removes $350/mo from your DTI, moving back-end from 35.1% to 30.1% · 52 months at current payment
Save your results
Get a copy of your DTI results — no account needed.
No spam. We only send what you ask for.
DTI guidelines vary by lender and loan program. FHA allows up to 43% (sometimes 50% with compensating factors). This calculator uses standard conventional thresholds as a baseline.