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Debt-to-Income (DTI) Calculator

U.S. only tools

Debt-to-income ratio is the first test almost every lender runs: how much of your gross monthly income is already promised to debt payments. Nothing else about your budget is visible to them, so the ratio decides how large a loan you can be approved for, and often the rate you are offered.

Debt-to-Income Calculator - Danfio

https://danfio.com/tools/dti-calculator/ - printed from this page

Currency: USD ($) - display only, nothing was converted

$

Before tax: lenders test the gross figure, not take-home pay.

$

Rent, or mortgage principal, interest, taxes and insurance.

$

Car loans, student loans, minimum card payments, personal loans.

$

Optional. Shows what the extra payment would do to the ratio.

$

Optional. Debts you will pay off before applying, which leave the ratio.

Results update as you type. Nothing leaves your device.

Currency symbol

Symbol only - nothing is converted and no exchange rate is used. Figures quoted in the explanation text stay as the sources publish them.

Debt-to-income ratio

32%

$2,400.00 of debt payments against $7,500.00 of gross monthly income — comfortable.

Housing ratio (front-end)
24%
Housing payment
$1,800.00
Other debt payments
$600.00
Total debt payments
$2,400.00

Where every dollar of gross income goes

  • Housing$1,800.00
  • Other debt payments$600.00
  • Everything else$5,100.00

Lenders only test the debt slices. Everything else is what the household actually lives on.

How this measures against the usual limits

GuidelineYour ratioStatusMonthly room
Housing at 28% of gross income24%Within limit$300.00
All debts at 36% of gross income32%Within limit$300.00
All debts at 43% of gross income32%Within limit$825.00
All debts at 50% of gross income32%Within limit$1,350.00

Room is the extra monthly payment this ratio can absorb at your income, or the amount by which you are over it.

The numbers behind the ratio

ItemAmountShare of gross income
Gross monthly income$7,500.00100.0%
Housing payment$1,800.0024%
Other debt payments$600.008%
Total debt payments$2,400.0032%
Left after debt payments$5,100.0068%
Maximum debt at the 43% line$3,225.00

What is left after debt payments still has to cover tax, food, transport and savings.

At 32% the ratio sits inside the common limits, with $825.00 of further monthly payments available before the 43% line.

How to read the 36, 43 and 50 percent lines

  • Lenders read the ratio in two parts: the housing payment on its own is 24% of gross income, and every debt payment together is 32%.
  • 43% is the usual ceiling for a qualified mortgage, which is $3,225.00 a month on $7,500.00 of gross income; this budget sits $825.00 away from it.
  • 36% is the conservative target most underwriters still prefer: getting back to it would mean removing $0.00 of monthly payments.
  • Above 50% most programs stop approving rather than price higher, which is why the band matters more than the exact decimal.

This calculator splits the ratio in two. The front-end figure covers housing only, the back-end figure adds every other debt payment, and the table shows how much room is left before each limit lenders talk about.

About this debt-to-income calculator

Behind a debt-to-income ratio sits one comparison underwriters make before almost anything else: how much of your gross monthly income is already promised to debt payments. The figure is split here into the housing-only front end and the all-debts back end, with the room left before each limit shown beside it.

Payments are counted from the lender’s side, so the full mortgage payment - principal, interest, tax and insurance - goes in with car loans, student loans and every card minimum. No account is required and no lender is contacted, and the income and payment figures you enter are never stored or shared.

An estimate, not financial advice; your lender's Loan Estimate overrides it. Utilities, groceries, retirement contributions and any bonus a lender will not count as stable are outside it, and the 28/36 and 43% lines are conventions that individual underwriters apply differently. Bring the ratio down before you apply, not after. Between 2014 and 2021, 43% was the statutory ceiling for a federal "qualified mortgage"; after the CFPB’s 2021 pricing-based qualified-mortgage (QM) rule it is no longer a universal legal cap. Most lenders still use 43% as a rule-of-thumb screening line, so this page keeps it but treats it as a common reference line rather than the law. DTI is only one input - credit score, down payment and cash reserves (lender overlays) decide approval too.

How this debt-to-income calculator works

How the ratio is calculated

Take gross monthly income before tax and deductions. Add up every required monthly debt payment: rent or the full mortgage payment (principal, interest, property tax and insurance), car loans, student loans, personal loans, child support and the minimum payment on each credit card.

Divide the total by gross monthly income. A household earning $90,000 a year has $7,500 a month; $2,400 of debt payments is a back-end DTI of 32%. The same arithmetic produces the front-end figure when only the housing payment is used, and a front-end ratio when the debt total is left out of the numerator.

Why lenders care so much

The ratio is a substitute for seeing your whole budget. A borrower at 30% has room to absorb a rate change or a month of reduced income; a borrower at 48% does not. That is why pricing gets worse above 43% and approvals become rare above 50%.

The 28% front-end rule is the same logic applied to housing alone: it is the share of income a household can commit to a home without becoming fragile. Lenders hold different lines for different products, which is why the page prints the headroom before each of the 28%, 36%, 43% and 50% thresholds rather than a single verdict.

What is not counted

Utilities, groceries, insurance premiums that are not part of a mortgage payment, subscriptions and tax are not part of DTI. Neither are retirement contributions, though they reduce the income actually available to pay a loan.

Debts you will clear before applying can be excluded, usually once the account reports a zero balance. Overtime, bonuses and side income count only when the lender accepts them as stable, which often takes a two-year history. The calculator treats the inputs as the lender would: required monthly payments on top of gross monthly income, nothing else.

What-if questions change the answer

Two what-ifs sit on the same inputs: add a proposed loan\u2019s payment to see the ratio it would produce, and mark debts you will pay off before applying to see the ratio drop. Both act on the back-end figure, because that is the one underwriters hold to the 36% and 43% lines - one field changed can be the difference between an approval and a decline.

Run the two what-ifs together and you get the honest test of a purchase: the ratio with the new payment included, and the ratio once the old debts are gone. That pair of numbers is closer to what an underwriter sees than any single figure on its own.

Worked examples

Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.

Household on $90,000 with a car loan and a card

Gross annual income: $90,000.00 · Monthly housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other monthly debt payments: $600.00

Debt-to-income ratio

32%

$2,400.00 of debt payments against $7,500.00 of gross monthly income — comfortable.

Housing ratio (front-end): 24% · Housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other debt payments: $600.00 · Total debt payments: $2,400.00

A 32% back-end ratio leaves more than $800 a month of headroom before the 43% ceiling.

The same debt payments on $60,000

Gross annual income: $60,000.00 · Monthly housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other monthly debt payments: $700.00

Debt-to-income ratio

50%

$2,500.00 of debt payments against $5,000.00 of gross monthly income — stretched.

Housing ratio (front-end): 36% · Housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other debt payments: $700.00 · Total debt payments: $2,500.00

Only income changed: identical payments now consume half of gross income.

Testing a $1,000 a month loan before applying

Gross annual income: $90,000.00 · Monthly housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other monthly debt payments: $600.00 · New loan payment you are considering: $1,000.00

Debt-to-income ratio

45.3%

$3,400.00 of debt payments against $7,500.00 of gross monthly income — stretched.

Housing ratio (front-end): 24% · Housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other debt payments: $600.00 · Debt with the new loan: $3,400.00

The new payment pushes the ratio past 45%, above the line most automated approvals use.

After clearing the card minimum first

Gross annual income: $90,000.00 · Monthly housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other monthly debt payments: $600.00 · Debt payments you plan to clear first: $600.00

Debt-to-income ratio

24%

$1,800.00 of debt payments against $7,500.00 of gross monthly income — comfortable.

Housing ratio (front-end): 24% · Housing payment: $1,800.00 · Other debt payments: $0.00 · Total debt payments: $1,800.00

Paying the card off removes its whole minimum from the ratio, the cheapest way to qualify.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good debt-to-income ratio?

Under 36% is comfortable, and housing under 28% is the traditional target. Between 36% and 43% is workable but leaves little margin. Above 43% most lenders tighten terms or decline, and above 50% approval becomes rare.

What is the difference between front-end and back-end DTI?

Front-end covers housing only. Back-end adds every other debt payment on your credit report. Mortgage underwriting looks mainly at the back-end figure, while the front-end number shows how much housing payment the income can carry.

Should I use gross or take-home income?

Gross income, before tax and deductions, because that is what lenders use. Take-home pay is the more honest figure for a personal budget, since tax and retirement contributions leave before the money reaches you.

Does rent count towards DTI?

Yes. A lender puts your current rent in the same place as a mortgage payment, which is why moving from renting to buying often barely changes the ratio when the payment is similar.

Does paying off a credit card help immediately?

Its minimum payment leaves the ratio once the account reports a zero balance, usually with the next statement. Closing the account is a separate decision with its own credit-score effects, so check the timing before you do it.

Can I be approved above 43% DTI?

43% is a guideline most lenders still use, not a federal statutory cap. Sometimes - loans above 43% exist, especially with strong credit, a large down payment or compensating factors such as cash reserves. They are priced more strictly and often need a human underwriter rather than an automated decision.

Do student loans in deferment count?

Usually yes, at a set percentage of the balance even while no payment is due, though lenders differ. Ask which calculation the lender uses before you rely on a deferment to qualify.

Assumptions and sources

  • Guideline thresholds reflect the long-standing 28/36 underwriting targets and the 43% line. 43% was the DTI cap for a federal "qualified mortgage" into 2021; since the CFPB’s pricing-based QM final rule it is no longer a statutory hard cap and survives mainly as the reference line most lenders still screen against, applying their own overlays.
  • Gross income before tax; housing costs include principal, interest, property tax and insurance.
  • Individual lenders set their own limits and may treat deferred student loans, bonuses or rental income differently.
  • This is an estimate tool, not debt, financial or credit advice. It is not a lending decision - approval and the offered rate come from a lender’s underwriting, not from this ratio alone.
  • Source: CFPB, "Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule" under Regulation Z - the 2021 final rule replaced the DTI test for a general qualified mortgage with a price-based test (APR versus the Average Prime Offer Rate threshold), so 43% is no longer a statutory qualified-mortgage cap.
  • Source: Fannie Mae Selling Guide - sets the back-end DTI ratio guidelines that lenders commonly reference and the compensating-factor conditions under which higher ratios may be accepted; each lender still applies its own stricter overlay.

Last reviewed 2026-09-28. An estimate, not financial advice; your lender's Loan Estimate overrides it. Read the full disclaimer.

Where a figure on this page comes from an official agency — HUD, IRS, FICO or a state body — the site keeps a dated snapshot of the source page in its sources library, and a scheduled job re-checks that snapshot, so the number can be traced back to the document it came from.

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