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How Much Rent Can You Afford?

A comfortable-rent number from your actual take-home pay — and a warning when rent plus your other fixed bills swallows half your income.

Run your numbers A rule of thumb, not underwriting
$
$
30%
  • Rent
  • Other fixed bills
  • Everything else
✓ Fits — fixed costs 50% of income Comfortable rent$1,800 Rent + fixed bills50%

A rule of thumb, not underwriting — landlords usually screen on gross income (the 3× rule); this uses take-home because that's what you actually spend. Arithmetic, not advice.

How it works

The 30% rule is the oldest rule of thumb in housing: keep rent under about a third of your income. This calculator runs it on take-home pay — not gross — because take-home is what actually lands in your account and pays the rent. The slider lets you set the rule anywhere from a conservative 20% to an aggressive 40%, and the rent number answers instantly. At the default 30% on $6,000 a month, comfortable rent is $1,800.

Rent never arrives alone, so the second input matters just as much: your other fixed bills — utilities, insurance, minimum debt payments, subscriptions, the phone plan. The calculator adds them to rent and shows the share of income that's already spoken for before the month begins. The default lands exactly on the line on purpose: $1,800 rent plus $1,200 in bills is $3,000 — precisely 50% of income.

That 50% mark is the Fixed line. When fixed costs stay under half your income, everything else — groceries, savings, a life — fits in the other half; when they creep past it, every other number in your budget compresses to make room. It's the same boundary as the needs bucket in the 50/30/20 rule and the Fixed bucket in ClariFi's Flex mode, which is why the verdict chip reads Fits up to 50%, Tight to 60%, and Over-extended beyond that.

The formula

rent        = income × (rule % / 100)
fixed total = rent + other fixed bills
fixed share = fixed total ÷ income
verdict:      ✓ fits ≤ 50% · △ tight ≤ 60% · ✗ over-extended > 60%
Example: $6,000 × 30% = $1,800 rent; + $1,200 bills = $3,000 → 50% of income

Honest assumptions

  • "Income" means after-tax take-home — what hits your account, not the salary on the offer letter.
  • "Other fixed bills" are the ones that don't flex month to month: utilities, insurance, minimum debt payments, subscriptions.
  • Landlords typically screen on gross income (the 3× rule), so what you can be approved for and what fits comfortably are two different numbers.
  • This page does arithmetic. It doesn't know your city, your commute, or your lease — it's a starting point, not a plan, and not advice.

Questions people ask

Is the 30% rule based on gross or net income?

The rule was originally written against gross income, but this calculator deliberately uses net — take-home pay — because taxes, retirement withholding, and health premiums never reach your checking account. Thirty percent of net is stricter than 30% of gross, and that's the point: it's the number you can actually spend.

What do landlords actually check?

Most screen on the 3× rule: gross monthly income at least three times the rent, verified with pay stubs, plus a credit check. That's an approval threshold, not a comfort threshold — 3× gross can still leave rent near 40% of take-home once taxes and withholding come out. Passing the screen and affording the apartment are separate questions.

What if rent would be over 40% of my take-home pay?

It happens constantly in expensive cities, and it isn't a moral failing — it's a math constraint. The workable responses are structural: a smaller place, a longer commute, a roommate, or accepting that the other fixed bills have to shrink to keep total fixed costs near the 50% line. The slider up top shows exactly how much room each rent level leaves.

Do roommates change the math?

Yes, and in your favor twice: your share of rent drops, and shared bills — utilities, internet, streaming — divide across more people, which lowers the fixed-bills input too. Run the calculator with your share of each, not the household totals. The verdict only cares about what leaves your account.

Related calculators

ClariFi makes tools, not advice. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or sign anything.

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iPhone only for now, iOS 17+. Tools, not advice.