How much rent can I afford?
Don't let rent break your first paycheck. Turn a salary into a rent range you can actually live with — and see what life looks like before you sign a lease.
Shows the gap before your first paycheck.
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How this rent affordability calculator works
Five rules, and the third one is why this returns a smaller number than most rent calculators do.
This free calculator estimates federal, state and FICA tax for the state you will be working in, subtracts any monthly debt minimums, and applies a 28–35% band to what is left — take-home pay, not gross salary. The familiar 30% rule is quoted on gross income, which is why the number here is usually lower than the one a listing site gives you. It then shows the cash you need before you get keys, which is normally a little over two months' rent once the deposit, moving costs and the gap before your first paycheck are counted.
Your salary becomes take-home pay first
You enter an annual salary and where you will be living. The calculator estimates federal income tax, that state’s income tax and FICA — Social Security at 6.2% of wages and Medicare at 1.45% — then divides what is left by twelve. The state moves that monthly figure more than almost anything else in the decision: nine states levy no tax on wage income at all, and the highest-tax states sit at the other end of the range.
Debt minimums come out before the percentage is applied
Switch on the debt toggle and your total monthly minimum payments — student loans, a car payment, credit card minimums — are subtracted from take-home before anything else happens. Because the rent band is a share of what is left rather than of the whole paycheck, every $100 of minimum payments takes $28 to $35 off the top of your rent range.
Then the band is applied to net income, not gross
This is where the answer here differs from most rent calculators. The 30% rule is conventionally quoted on gross salary, and that is the version listing sites and landlords use. But rent is paid out of what lands in your account, so this tool applies a 28–35% band to take-home instead — 28% at the low end, 35% at the high end, rounded to the nearest $25. For someone losing roughly a quarter of their salary to tax, that band works out to about 21% to 26% of gross. On a $70,000 salary the gross-based rule allows about $1,750 a month; the same arithmetic on take-home lands nearer $1,225 to $1,530. That gap is not a rounding error, and it is the difference between a lease that works and one that quietly does not.
It prices the cash you need before you get keys
The monthly number is the one people can afford. The upfront number is the one that catches them out. The calculator adds a security deposit of one month’s rent, first month’s rent, about $600 of moving and setup costs, and living costs across the roughly two-week gap between your start date and your first paycheck — then shows the total as a range across the low and high end of your rent band. In practice that is a little over two months’ rent before you have bought a single piece of furniture.
Bonus and variable income are left out on purpose
There is no field for a bonus, commission or equity, and that is a decision rather than an omission. A lease is a fixed monthly obligation for twelve months; a bonus is discretionary for your employer and arrives once, after tax, if it arrives. Sizing rent against base salary alone and treating anything variable as a separate decision once it lands is the convention here for that reason.
How do you read the rent range?
The output is a band, not a single figure, because the honest answer to “how much rent can I afford” is a span with a comfortable end and a ceiling. Which end you land on decides what the rest of the month feels like.
- The low end is the comfortable one
- At 28% of take-home, rent leaves room for utilities, groceries, transport, minimum debt payments and something going into savings without any of it requiring effort. Nothing about your budget has to work perfectly for the month to work.
- The high end is a ceiling, not a target
- At 35%, the rent is payable but the slack is gone. A car repair, a dental bill or two months between jobs has nowhere to come from except a credit card, which is how a manageable lease becomes an expensive one. Above 35% of take-home, the calculator is no longer describing a range you can carry.
- What a good result looks like
- Rent at or below the middle of your band, and the upfront figure already sitting in an account rather than going on credit. The gap between the two ends of the band is real money every month, so the calculator also shows what that difference would compound to over thirty years at a 7% annual real return — a planning assumption, not a prediction, and the reason the choice between two apartments is worth more than it looks.
What this can’t see: what the apartment actually includes. Utilities, internet, renters insurance, parking, pet rent and the cost of the commute are all housing costs that sit outside the rent line, and a cheaper place with none of them included can cost more to live in than a pricier one where heat and water are covered. It also cannot see the landlord's own rule — most screen on gross income, commonly asking that you earn about three times the monthly rent, or forty times it annually in some markets — so a range built on take-home pay will usually be stricter than what you would be approved for.
Questions people actually ask
How much rent can I afford on my salary?
A common starting point is the 30% rule: keep rent at or under 30% of income. The version worth using applies it to take-home pay rather than gross salary, because rent is paid out of what lands in your account, not out of what the offer letter says. On a $70,000 salary the gross-based version allows about $1,750 a month. This calculator applies a 28–35% band to take-home instead, which for someone losing roughly a quarter of their salary to tax works out at about $1,225 to $1,530 — and lower again in a high-tax state, or if you have monthly debt payments.
Is the 30% rule on gross or net income?
The 30% rule is conventionally quoted on gross income, and that is the version most rent calculators and many landlords use. It is a convention rather than a law or a lender requirement, and it predates the tax and student-loan picture most people under 35 are actually in. Applying 30% to take-home pay is the stricter and more realistic reading, and it is the one this calculator uses.
How much cash do I need upfront to move into an apartment?
Most US leases ask for first month's rent plus a security deposit before you get keys, and many ask for last month's rent as well. That means the cash you need on day one is typically two to three times the monthly rent, before you have bought a single piece of furniture. This calculator shows that upfront number next to the monthly one, because the monthly figure is the one people can afford and the upfront figure is the one that catches them out.
Should I count my bonus when working out what rent I can afford?
Rent is a fixed monthly obligation and a bonus is not a fixed monthly payment, so sizing rent against a bonus means committing guaranteed money against money that is discretionary for your employer. The usual approach is to size rent against base salary alone and treat any bonus as a separate decision once it actually arrives.
Do landlords use gross or net income to approve you for an apartment?
Gross, almost always. The common US screening rule is that your gross monthly income should be at least three times the monthly rent, and some markets — New York most visibly — use the equivalent annual version of forty times the monthly rent. Those are landlord conventions rather than legal or lending requirements, and they are more generous than a take-home-based band, so being approved for an apartment and being able to carry it comfortably are two different tests. A rent figure built on net income will normally sit below what a landlord would sign off.
Do student loans and car payments change how much rent I can afford?
Yes, and by more than most people expect. Monthly minimum payments come out of take-home pay before any rent percentage is applied, so they reduce the pool the band is calculated from rather than being absorbed by it. When rent is set at 28–35% of what is left, every $100 a month of minimum payments removes $28 to $35 from the rent range. A $400 monthly student loan payment therefore costs roughly $112 to $140 a month of rent budget, not $400.
What if nothing in my city is inside my rent range?
This is the normal outcome in expensive metros, and it means the arithmetic is working rather than failing. The levers people usually reach for are a roommate, which splits the rent line without splitting the income; a neighbourhood further out, trading rent for commuting cost and time; a smaller or older unit; or a later move-in date that gives the upfront cash more time to build. Going above the top of the band is also a choice, but it is a choice to run with no slack — which is worth making deliberately rather than by default.
Estimates to help you think, not financial advice. See all 10 free calculators.
What to work out next
A rent number is one line in a monthly budget. These three decide whether it holds — and each one starts from a figure this page has already produced.
- Offer Letter AnalyzerThe rent range above is a percentage of one salary figure. If that salary is still an offer you are weighing, this prices the whole package — bonus target, employer 401(k) match, benefits, equity and PTO — and returns the monthly take-home that this band is a percentage of.
- Credit Card PayoffDebt minimums come off your take-home before the rent band is applied, so every $100 of minimum payments costs you $28 to $35 of monthly rent budget. This shows what clearing a balance would actually take, and what the payment turns into once the card is gone.
- Emergency Fund TargetThe cash you need to get keys and the cash you need for an emergency are two different pots, and move-in costs empty the first one on day one. This sizes the second against your essential expenses rather than against a blanket three-to-six-month rule.
All of them are free and need no account. Browse every WeLeap money calculator.
What this calculator does not account for
Every figure here is an estimate for planning, not personalized financial advice. Tax is estimated for a single filer from federal brackets, your state's income tax and FICA; it does not model filing jointly, dependants, pre-tax deductions such as your own 401(k) or HSA contributions, itemised deductions, or the local and city income taxes that apply in places like New York City. Rent figures are market estimates for a metro area, not quotes for a specific apartment, and the 28–35% band is a convention rather than a lender or landlord requirement. WeLeap is not a registered investment adviser — for guidance on your own situation, speak to a licensed professional.