Debt-to-Income (DTI) Calculator
Free · no sign-up · reviewed September 2026
Your debt-to-income ratio, or DTI, is the number lenders care about most when you apply for a mortgage. It's simply your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. This calculator works out both versions lenders look at and tells you where you stand.
Enter your income and each monthly payment. The ring shows how much of your income is already committed to debt versus what's left over. Lower is better, and there are clear thresholds worth knowing.
Drag to adjust
Your numbers
Income before taxes
Include property tax & insurance if you own
Personal loans, child support, etc.
Your numbers save automatically on this device. The link opens this calculator with these exact numbers filled in, so you can bookmark a scenario or send it to someone. Printing gives you a clean sheet of just your numbers and the answer.
Your debt-to-income ratio
40%
Acceptable · $2,400 of debt on $6,000 income
💡 Your back-end DTI is 40%. That's still within reach: 43% is where FHA's manual underwriting asks the lender to justify the loan in writing, and under 36% is the sweet spot. Paying down a card or small loan would move you into stronger territory.
40%
Back-end DTI
all monthly debt
27%
Front-end DTI
housing only
$3,600
Income left
after debt payments
- Housing$1,600
- Other debts$800
- Income left$3,600
- Total monthly debt
- $2,400
- Back-end DTI (all debt)
- 40.0%
- Front-end DTI (housing)
- 26.7%
- Income after debts
- $3,600
Debt-to-Income Calculator · Far Better Off
https://farbetteroff.com/calculators/debt-to-income-calculator
Open that link to get this calculator back with these exact numbers. Estimates for education only — Far Better Off is not a lender or a financial advisor, and these results are not financial advice.
The 2-minute guide
Front-end vs back-end DTI
Front-end DTI counts only your housing payment against your income. Back-end DTI counts all your debt: housing plus car, student loans, credit cards and other payments. Lenders weigh the back-end number most, and the common guideline is the 28/36 rule — housing under 28% of gross income, all debt under 36%. FHA's own qualifying ratios for a manually underwritten loan are 31% and 43%, and going above either means the lender has to write down why the loan is still an acceptable risk (HUD Handbook 4000.1).
Use gross income, not take-home
DTI is calculated on your gross monthly income, the amount before taxes and deductions. That's the number lenders use, so use it here too. Comparing your debts to your smaller take-home pay would make your ratio look worse than a lender will see it.
The fastest way to lower it
Two levers move DTI: less debt or more income. Paying off a small loan or a credit card removes its whole monthly payment from the top of the fraction, which can drop your ratio surprisingly fast. Avoid taking on a new car loan right before applying for a mortgage, since it works against you.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good debt-to-income ratio?
Below 36% is generally considered healthy, and it's the target most lenders prefer. Many mortgage programs allow up to 43%, and some go to about 50% with strong credit and cash reserves, but lower is always better for both approval odds and your own breathing room.
How do I calculate my debt-to-income ratio?
Add up your total monthly debt payments (housing, car, student loans, credit card minimums and other loans), then divide by your gross monthly income and multiply by 100. For example, $2,400 of debt on $6,000 of income is a 40% DTI. This calculator does it for you.
Does rent count in debt-to-income ratio?
Yes. Your current rent or mortgage payment is included in your back-end DTI. When you apply for a mortgage, lenders replace your rent with the proposed new house payment to see whether the new total still fits.
What bills are not included in DTI?
Lenders generally leave out everyday living costs like groceries, utilities, phone bills and streaming subscriptions. DTI focuses on debt obligations: loans and minimum credit card payments, plus your housing payment and the things bundled into it — property tax, homeowner's insurance, HOA dues and mortgage insurance. Alimony and child support count as debt too, and they're the items most often forgotten.
Is 43% still the CFPB limit for a qualified mortgage?
No, and this is the most out-of-date figure in most writing about DTI. The CFPB's General QM Final Rule removed the 43% debt-to-income limit from the General Qualified Mortgage definition and replaced it with price-based thresholds, mandatory from 1 October 2022. The rule now turns on price rather than a ratio: for a first-lien loan of $110,260 or more, the APR has to stay under the average prime offer rate plus 2.25 percentage points. A lender must still consider and verify your DTI or your residual income, but there is no longer a numeric ceiling in the regulation. Where 43% does still bind is FHA: 31% and 43% are FHA's qualifying ratios for manually underwritten loans, and above either one the lender has to justify the loan in writing.
Related calculators
Embed this calculator
Free to use on your own site. Paste this where you want it to appear:
<iframe id="fbo-debt-to-income-calculator" src="https://farbetteroff.com/embed/debt-to-income-calculator" title="Debt-to-Income Calculator by Far Better Off" width="100%" height="1820" frameborder="0" style="border:0;max-width:600px;width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<script>window.addEventListener("message",function(e){if(e&&e.data&&e.data.type==="cw-embed-height"&&e.data.slug==="debt-to-income-calculator"){var f=document.getElementById("fbo-debt-to-income-calculator");if(f){f.style.height=e.data.height+"px"}}});</script>
<p style="font:13px/1.4 system-ui,sans-serif;text-align:center;margin:6px 0">Powered by <a href="https://farbetteroff.com/calculators/debt-to-income-calculator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Far Better Off</a></p>The little “Powered by Far Better Off” link keeps it free. Thanks for the credit!
Need a dark theme, a compact version for a sidebar, a different width or your own starting numbers? Customize it in the embed builder →
Or set them by hand — every field on Debt-to-Income Calculator, with the name to use and the values it takes: Starting-values reference →
On WordPress? One line instead of three.
With the free Far Better Off plugin installed, this shortcode is the same widget — and nothing for your editor or theme to strip:
[calcwise slug="debt-to-income-calculator"]Download the plugin → Free, no account, and it adds a Far Better Off block too.