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A clean snapshot of your home buying budget — great for Reddit or socials.
The calculator is prefilled with a $55,000 income and an estimated 6.60% rate — add your down payment and debts for your exact number. Worked examples for this salary below.
Compare rates and get pre-approved. Shopping multiple lenders can save tens of thousands over the life of a loan.
For educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Actual loan approval depends on credit score, employment history, and lender criteria. Consult a mortgage professional before making home buying decisions.
A $55,000 salary supports a real mortgage — the question is how much and where. The 28% rule gives you about $1,283/month for housing, which at a 6.60% rate translates to roughly $160,000 with 10% down and typical debts. That's a workable house budget in much of the country and a starter-condo budget in expensive metros.
This is the income band where most first-time buyers live, and the playbook is well-worn: FHA with 3.5% down if savings are thin, conventional with 5–10% down if your credit is 680+, and a hard look at existing debts before you shop — at this income they can eat directly into the price you can pay.
Lenders size mortgages with the 28/36 rule: housing costs under 28% of gross monthly income, all debt payments combined under 36%. On $55,000 a year ($4,583/month gross), that means:
| Max housing payment (28% front-end) | $1,283/mo |
| Max total debt payments (36% back-end) | $1,650/mo |
| Other-debt headroom before it cuts your house budget | $367/mo |
Benchmark buyer: $400/month of existing debts, 30-year fixed at an estimated 6.60% (mid-2026 national ballpark), property tax and insurance estimated at 1.1% and 0.5% of the price per year:
| ≈5% down ($8,000) | $154,000 |
| ≈10% down ($16,000) | $160,000 |
| ≈20% down ($35,000) | $176,000 |
The monthly cost is about $1,250 in every row — the 28/36 cap is what limits you. The down payment decides how much house that budget buys, and at 20% it also drops PMI from the payment.
Debts. On a $55k salary you can carry about $367/month of non-housing debt before it starts cutting into the housing budget. The benchmark's $400/month is already past that line — every extra $100/month of payments removes roughly $15,700 of house, and paying debt off adds it back.
Rate. With the same 10%-down benchmark, a 5.60% rate supports about $167,000 and a 7.60% rate about $152,000. Lender quotes on the same borrower routinely differ by 0.25–0.5%, so shopping at least three lenders is the cheapest rate cut available.
Location. The benchmarks assume the ~1.1% national-average property tax. In a 2%+ tax state the same monthly budget buys meaningfully less house; in a low-tax state, more.
Pick your income, or use the main affordability calculator with your exact numbers:
Financing is the other half of the answer — see what your credit score qualifies you for, from 500 to 800.