Your debt-to-income ratio is the single biggest factor in a mortgage approval — bigger than your credit score. This calculator gives you both ratios lenders look at, tells you where you stand against the 43% benchmark, and works backwards to the housing payment you can actually get approved for.
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Below 36% is comfortable, and 43% is the Qualified Mortgage benchmark most conventional underwriting targets. FHA can approve up to about 57% with compensating factors, while VA flags files above 41% for a residual-income review rather than declining them.
They divide your total monthly debt payments by your gross monthly income, before tax. The front-end ratio counts only housing costs; the back-end ratio adds auto loans, student loans, credit-card minimums, and other recurring obligations.
Recurring monthly obligations that appear on your credit report: mortgage or rent, auto loans and leases, student loans, credit-card minimum payments, personal loans, and court-ordered payments like child support or alimony. Utilities, groceries, and insurance do not count.
Paying off a small installment loan entirely removes its full monthly payment from the calculation, which moves the ratio faster than paying down a large balance. Adding a co-borrower's income, or simply targeting a lower-priced home, are the other fast levers.
Yes. The 43% figure is a safe-harbor benchmark, not a hard cap. Automated underwriting routinely approves higher ratios when reserves, credit score, or down payment are strong, and FHA explicitly allows more.
Sources: CFPB — Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage rule (12 CFR §1026.43); HUD Handbook 4000.1 — FHA qualifying ratios; VA Lenders Handbook (M26-7) — DTI and residual income.
Estimates for educational purposes only — not a loan offer, financial advice, or a commitment to lend. Actual rates, payments, and terms vary by lender and creditworthiness.