How Much Rent Can I Afford?
Enter your monthly take-home pay for a comfortable, recommended, and stretch rent range — the 30% rule applied to what actually lands in your account.
Your Rent Range
Why take-home, not gross?
The classic 30% rule uses gross
The traditional guideline caps rent at 30% of pre-tax income. The problem: you never see that money — taxes and deductions take a big slice before payday.
We use what you actually keep
Applying 30% to your take-home pay gives a number you can genuinely afford, not one that looks fine on paper but squeezes every real month.
Rent is your biggest envelope
In envelope budgeting, rent is the largest fixed envelope. The lower you keep it, the more room every other envelope — groceries, savings, fun — has to breathe.
Paid weekly or biweekly? The paycheck splitter → turns each paycheck into envelope set-asides. Weighing whether to buy instead? Try the rent vs. buy calculator →
Found your number? Now hold the line.
LazeeFish makes rent your biggest envelope and shows what’s left for everything else — automatically. $5/month, 30-day free trial, no card.
Start free trial — no credit cardHow much rent can I afford?
The most-quoted rule is to keep rent at or below 30% of your income. It's a useful anchor, but two details change the answer: whether you measure against gross or take-home pay, and how much debt you're already carrying.
This calculator uses take-home pay on purpose. Thirty percent of gross can look affordable and still leave you short once taxes, insurance, and retirement contributions come out. Measuring against the money that actually reaches your account keeps the number honest — comfortable at 25%, recommended at 30%, and 35% as a stretch that leaves little slack.
If you carry debt, add it above. Rent plus loan payments eating most of your take-home is the classic recipe for a tight month — the leftover figure tells you whether there's room for groceries, savings, and the unexpected. This is a planning guideline, not financial advice.
Calculator FAQ
Is the 30% rule based on gross or take-home pay?
The traditional 30% rule uses gross (pre-tax) income, but that can overstate what's affordable once taxes and deductions come out. This calculator uses take-home pay so the number reflects money you can actually spend. If you prefer the gross-income version, expect it to allow a higher rent than shown here.
What if I have debt payments?
Enter your monthly non-rent debt payments and the calculator shows how much is left after rent and debt for everything else. If that leftover is thin, drop to the comfortable (25%) tier — housing plus debt eating most of your take-home is the classic setup for a stressful month.
Should I spend the maximum I can afford?
No — the recommended and stretch numbers are ceilings, not targets. Spending below your ceiling frees up money for savings, debt payoff, and unplanned costs. With envelope budgeting, the lower your rent envelope, the more room every other envelope has.
Also see: Rent vs. buy calculator · Paycheck splitter · 50/30/20 calculator