The widely used guideline is to keep rent at or under about 30 percent of your gross monthly income. On 60,000 a year, that is 5,000 a month gross, so roughly 1,500 in rent. A free rent affordability calculator refines that for your actual income and existing debts, entirely in your browser.
Free rent affordability calculator. Enter your income and debts to find the monthly rent you can comfortably afford using the 30 percent rule.
Open Rent Affordability Calculator → Free toolFree home affordability calculator. Enter income, debts, down payment and rate to estimate the home price you can afford to buy.
Open Home Affordability Calculator →The 30 percent figure is a long-standing budgeting benchmark for housing cost burden, and it is the quick answer landlords and listing sites tend to use. It is a guideline rather than a law of nature: someone with student loans and a car payment has less room than the raw salary suggests, which is why a calculator that subtracts existing monthly debts gives a more honest ceiling.
The rule is usually quoted against gross income, before taxes. If you prefer to budget on take-home pay, apply a similar share to your net and treat the result as conservative. Either way, leave room for utilities, renter insurance and moving costs, which sit outside the rent figure.
In expensive markets many renters spend more than 30 percent, and landlords often screen by requiring income of roughly three times the rent, which is the same ratio from the other direction. Knowing your number before viewing apartments keeps the search inside reality.
Gross, before taxes. Using take-home pay with the same percentage gives a more conservative number.
Income of three times the rent is the same threshold as rent being one third of income, so it is the 30 percent guideline applied as a screening rule.
The classic housing-burden measure includes utilities, but rental listings quote base rent. Budget utilities on top to be safe.