Check a rent against your income with the 30% rule, the landlord 40× rule and your take-home budget, including a co-renter's income and your debt payments
Rent is the biggest bill most households have, and the easiest to get wrong because the lease is signed once and paid every month. There are three quick checks, and they answer different questions: whether housing will crowd out everything else (the 30% rule), whether a landlord will approve you (the 40× rule), and whether the rest of your budget still works on what you actually bring home. The calculator runs all three and suggests the lowest as a comfortable ceiling.
The 30% rule comes from housing policy: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development treats households paying more than 30% of income for housing as cost-burdened. The 40× rule is a screening practice many landlords use — yearly income of at least 40 times the monthly rent — which works out to 30% of gross income, the same line from the other side. The take-home check leaves room for every other need.
| Salary | 30% of gross | 40× rule | Half of take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $750 | $750 | $1,095 |
| $40,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,430 |
| $50,000 | $1,250 | $1,250 | $1,765 |
| $60,000 | $1,500 | $1,500 | $2,100 |
| $75,000 | $1,875 | $1,875 | $2,566 |
| $100,000 | $2,500 | $2,500 | $3,299 |
The 30% rule is quoted on gross pay, but rent is paid from take-home pay. On a $50,000 salary, 30% of gross is $1,250 a month — about 35% of what a single filer with no state tax actually receives each month. State income tax, a 401(k) contribution and health premiums push that share higher. That is why the calculator also caps rent at half of take-home pay minus your monthly debt payments: in a 50/30/20 budget, half of take-home has to cover every need, and rent is only one of them.
Utilities, renter's insurance, parking, pet rent and fees for amenities are usually outside the rent figure, and they can add a meaningful share on top. A lower rent with utilities included can cost less overall than a cheaper-looking listing that bills them separately. Moving costs — deposit, first month, application fees and the move itself — are a one-time amount to have saved before signing.
A co-signer or guarantor, a larger deposit where the law allows it, a roommate's income on the application, or proof of savings can all help. Some cities cap deposits or limit how income can be counted, so check local rules. Rather than stretching to a rent that fails every check, the calculator's take-home line shows what fits now — and the pay and side-income tools on this site show what it would take to move the line.
About $1,250 a month under the 30% rule and the 40× landlord rule. For a single filer with no state tax, $1,250 is about 35% of what arrives each month in 2026, so less is more comfortable if you have debt payments.
Many landlords require yearly gross income of at least 40 times the monthly rent. For a $1,500 rent that is $60,000 a year.
$1,050 a month is 30% of $3,500 gross. If $3,500 is your take-home pay, half of it is $1,750 for all needs, so rent near $1,050 still leaves room for utilities, food and transport.
It is the line HUD uses to define a cost burden, so spending more is common in expensive cities but squeezes savings. Spending less leaves more room for everything else.
Tax rules, limits and pay data change. Check the current figures with the primary source before acting on them.