What Can I Afford?

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What Can I Afford? Payoff Calculator City Match Survey Browse Cities

💰 Affordability Calculator

Find out exactly what
you can afford.

Enter your income and bedroom size. We calculate your max rent and max home price using the same standards lenders and landlords use — then show you the top cities where that budget actually works.

Two numbers. That's all we need.

We do the rest — rent qualification, mortgage calculation, down payment scenarios, and real city matches.

Annual household income

Bedroom size

Please select both your income and bedroom size.

Crunching the numbers across nearly 1,000 cities...

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Your affordability breakdown

Based on your income and bedroom preference

Max monthly rent

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Most landlords require rent to be no more than 30% of your gross monthly income. This is your qualifying threshold.

Max home price

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Based on standard mortgage lending guidelines at today's live rate. Shows principal and interest only — taxes and insurance are extra.

📊 Current 30yr fixed rate: loading...

How we calculate this

Rent: We use the 30% gross income rule — the standard threshold used by landlords and property managers nationwide to qualify tenants. If your rent exceeds 30% of your gross monthly income, most landlords will decline your application.

Home purchase: We use the 28% front-end debt-to-income ratio (DTI) — the standard guideline used by mortgage lenders to determine how much home you can qualify for. This calculates your maximum monthly principal and interest payment, then works backward to a home price using today's live 30-year fixed rate from the Federal Reserve. Your actual payment will be higher once property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and any HOA fees are added.

Now you know what you can afford.

Find out which of these cities actually fits your life.

Take the survey →

🏠 Top 5 cities to rent

🏡 Top 5 cities to buy

Important: Mortgage estimates show principal and interest only at the current 30-year fixed rate. Actual monthly payments will be higher when property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and HOA fees are included. Rent qualification uses the standard 30% gross income rule. Home purchase qualification uses 28% front-end DTI. Individual lender requirements vary. VA loan eligibility requires qualifying military service. FHA loans require minimum 580 credit score. This is not financial or lending advice.

Now find out where you truly belong.

Affordability is just one piece. ZipSage scores nearly 1,000 cities against your full profile — career, family, lifestyle, veteran status, and more — to find the city that fits your life, not just your budget.

Take the full city match survey →

Free · 5 minutes · Nearly 1,000 cities analyzed