Debt and credit · Calculator

Your debt-to-income ratio,
and what it means for a mortgage.

Your DTI helps decide whether you qualify for a mortgage and how much you can borrow. Enter your income and debt payments to see where you stand and which debt payoff improves your DTI the most.

The question it answersWhat is my debt-to-income ratio and will it qualify me for a mortgage?

Rules: United States. Privacy: runs in your browser. What you enter stays on your device unless you copy a share link, which puts your inputs in the link.

Before taxes. Includes base + bonus + other income.

MONTHLY DEBT PAYMENTS
FRONT-END DTI
0%
Housing only
BACK-END DTI
0%
All debt
ASSESSMENT ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: Agency DTI limits: Fannie Mae 36% of stable monthly income for manual underwriting (up to 45% with its credit score and reserve requirements met) and 50% through Desktop Underwriter; FHA manual underwriting 31/43, 37/47 with one compensating factor, 40/40 with no discretionary debt, 40/50 with two; VA 41% as a standard that triggers extra review, not a ceiling.Verify at: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-6-02 ↗ · HUD Handbook 4000.1 (Update 18) ↗ · 38 CFR 36.4340 (VA) ↗ Source 1 in the list belowFannie Mae: B3-6-02, "Maximum DTI Ratios" (topic dated 04/02/2025). FHA: Handbook 4000.1 II.A.5, Approvable Ratio Requirements (Manual), handbook p. 359 (August 12, 2026 update); every tier above 31/43 requires a credit score of 580 or higher. VA: 38 CFR 36.4340(c)-(d); above 41%, the lender needs a supervisor-signed justification or VA prior approval unless residual income exceeds the guideline by at least 20%.
MAX HOUSING PAYMENT UP TO THE 50% DU CEILING ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: For loan casefiles underwritten through Desktop Underwriter, the Fannie Mae maximum DTI is 50%.Verify at: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-6-02 ↗ Source 1 in the list belowB3-6-02, "Maximum DTI Ratios," second paragraph. It is a ceiling, not a target, and reaching it does not mean a loan is approved. Some transactions, such as cash-out refinances, can get a lower DU maximum, and manually underwritten loans stop at 36% (45% with the credit score and reserve requirements met).
$0/mo
Approx. $0 loan at the 50% DU ceiling (current rates) ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: Mortgage rate used: 7.03%, the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average for the week of September 24, 2026. The page reads the latest weekly average from the site's data file (FRED MORTGAGE30US, the same survey) and keeps the September 24, 2026 figure when that file is older or cannot load.Verify at: Freddie Mac PMMS ↗ FRED MORTGAGE30US ↗ Source 2 in the list belowRates update weekly.
WHICH PAYOFF HELPS MOST?

Math on your inputs. A lender’s actual terms, fees and rounding can differ from this result.

What this tool assumes
  • Front-end DTI = housing cost / gross monthly income.
  • Back-end DTI = (housing + all other monthly debt) / gross monthly income.
  • Fannie Mae caps DTI at 50% for loans underwritten through Desktop Underwriter (DU). For manually underwritten loans the cap is 36% of stable monthly income, or up to 45% when the borrower meets the credit score and reserve requirements in the Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix. Some loans get lower caps, including certain cash-out refinances and manual loans for borrowers with no credit score. ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: Fannie Mae maximum DTI: 36% manual, up to 45% with credit score and reserves, 50% through DU; exceptions can set lower caps.Verify at: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-6-02 ↗ Source 1 in the list belowB3-6-02, sections "Maximum DTI Ratios" and "Exceptions to the Maximum DTI Ratio." A recalculated DTI over 45% (manual) or 50% (DU) makes the loan ineligible for delivery.
  • The CFPB's original General QM definition capped DTI at 43%. Its General QM final rule (85 FR 86308, published December 29, 2020, effective March 1, 2021) removed that limit and replaced it with price-based thresholds; compliance became mandatory October 1, 2022 (12 CFR 1026.43(e)(2)). For 2026, a first-lien loan of $137,958 or more meets the price test when its APR is less than 2.25 percentage points above the average prime offer rate. ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: The General QM final rule removed the 43% DTI limit and replaced it with price-based thresholds; it took effect March 1, 2021 and compliance became mandatory October 1, 2022.Verify at: Federal Register: General QM final rule ↗ · Federal Register: compliance-date delay ↗ · 12 CFR 1026.43 (eCFR) ↗ · Federal Register: 2026 thresholds ↗ Source 3 in the list below85 FR 86308 (effective March 1, 2021). The delay rule, 86 FR 22844, moved mandatory compliance from July 1, 2021 to October 1, 2022. The 2026 loan-amount tiers ($137,958 and $82,775) are set by 90 FR 57890.
  • FHA manual underwriting allows 31% housing / 43% total debt with no compensating factors, 37/47 with one, 40/40 with no discretionary debt and 40/50 with two. Every tier above 31/43 requires a credit score of 580 or higher; below 580, or with no score, the cap is 31/43. FHA loans approved through the automated TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard are not modeled here. ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: FHA manual ratio limits: 31/43, 37/47 (one compensating factor), 40/40 (no discretionary debt), 40/50 (two compensating factors); 580+ credit score above 31/43.Verify at: HUD Handbook 4000.1 (Update 18) ↗ Source 4 in the list belowHandbook 4000.1 II.A.5, Approvable Ratio Requirements (Manual), handbook p. 359 (August 12, 2026 update). Compensating factors include verified cash reserves of at least three monthly mortgage payments (one and two units) and a new payment no more than $100 or 5% above the current one, whichever is less.
  • VA treats 41% as a standard, not a ceiling. Above 41%, the lender needs a supervisor-signed justification or VA prior approval, unless residual income exceeds the VA guideline by at least 20%. The VA Lender's Handbook ranks DTI as secondary to residual income, which this tool does not calculate. ×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: VA DTI standard is 41% or less; above it, a supervisor-signed justification or VA prior approval is required unless residual income beats the guideline by at least 20%.Verify at: 38 CFR 36.4340 (VA) ↗ · VA Lender's Handbook, Chapter 4 ↗ Source 5 in the list below38 CFR 36.4340(c)-(d). Handbook Chapter 4, Topic 10.b: DTI "is secondary to the residual income." The regulation itself calls DTI and residual income the two primary standards.
  • The back-end card and the assessment change at 36%, 43%, 45% and 50% back-end DTI; the front-end card uses the FHA manual housing ratios of 31%, 37% and 40%. Each limit counts as inside: exactly 36.0% reads as within the 36% cap. Above a 31% housing ratio, manual FHA needs a 580+ credit score and either no discretionary debt (the 40/40 tier) or compensating factors: one for up to 37%, two for up to 40%.
  • Both ratios are rounded to one decimal, and the labels and assessment use that rounded figure. Blank fields count as $0; a negative amount is not valid, counts as $0 and a note under the inputs says so.
  • Max housing payment is computed at the 50% DU ceiling, an eligibility maximum rather than an approval. The loan estimate under it assumes 80% of that payment is principal and interest (the rest stands in for property tax and insurance), a 30-year term and the latest Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average: 7.03% for the week of September 24, 2026, replaced by a newer week when the site's data file has one.
Front-end vs back-end DTI, default inputs
Front-end DTI: 26.7%housing only
$2,000
Back-end DTI: 38.0%housing + all other debt
$2,000$85036% Fannie manual cap50% Fannie DU max
0%100% = $7,500/mo gross income
Debt payments: $2,000 housing plus $850 of car, student loan and card minimumsRoom left under the 50% DU maximum: $900/mo
The max housing payment is the payment that puts back-end DTI at exactly 50%, the Fannie Mae ceiling through Desktop Underwriter; reaching it does not mean a loan is approved. At these inputs that is $2,900/mo: the $2,000 housing payment plus the $900 of room. A manually underwritten Fannie Mae loan stops at 36%, or 45% with the required credit score and reserves; manual FHA reaches 50% total only with housing at 40% or less, a 580+ credit score and two compensating factors.
Front-end DTI counts housing alone; back-end DTI adds every other debt payment, and that is the ratio Fannie Mae caps: 36% for manual underwriting, 45% with the required credit score and reserves, 50% through Desktop Underwriter. At the calculator's default inputs back-end DTI is 38.0%: over the 36% manual cap, with $900 a month of room under the 50% DU maximum.

Not financial advice. Lender thresholds vary.

HOW THIS IS CALCULATED

This tool runs entirely in your browser: no data is sent to any server. Its only data is the weekly mortgage rate, read from the site's own data file.

  • Front-end DTI = housing payment ÷ gross monthly income × 100. Back-end DTI = (housing + car + student loans + card minimums + personal loans + child support or alimony + other recurring) ÷ gross monthly income × 100, rounded to one decimal (n/a when income is blank, $0 or negative). Blank debt fields count as $0; a negative amount counts as $0 and the page says so. This is the CFPB definition: monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income[6].
  • Labels, applied to the rounded figure: the back-end card and the assessment change at 36%, 43%, 45% and 50% back-end DTI; the front-end card uses the FHA manual housing ratios of 31%, 37% and 40%. Each limit counts as inside: exactly 36.0% reads as within the 36% cap.
  • Max housing payment = gross income × 0.50 minus all non-housing payments, floored at $0. 50% is the Fannie Mae maximum for loans underwritten through Desktop Underwriter, a ceiling rather than an approval; Fannie Mae caps total DTI at 36% for manually underwritten loans and 45% with the required credit score and reserves[1]. The CFPB's General QM rule replaced the former 43% debt-to-income limit with price-based thresholds[7]. FHA manual underwriting allows 43% total debt with housing at 31% or less, 47% with one compensating factor and housing at 37% or less, and 50% with two compensating factors and housing at 40% or less[8].
  • Loan estimate = (80% of that payment) × (1 minus (1 + r)^-360) ÷ r, with r = the 30-year rate ÷ 12. The other 20% of the payment stands in for property tax and insurance. The rate is the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average: 7.03% for the week of September 24, 2026[2], or the latest week in the site's copy of FRED MORTGAGE30US (data/macro.json) when that week is newer[9].
  • "Which payoff helps most" removes one debt at a time (car, student, card, personal, other; largest payment listed first) and reruns back-end DTI and the loan estimate at the 50% DU ceiling.

Not modeled: down payment, mortgage insurance, credit-score pricing, and your actual property tax and insurance. Verify the methodology or inspect the source code in your browser's dev tools.

Where to go from here

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Sources

Bracketed numbers and verify badges in the text link to these sources. Figures, rates and rules change: check each source’s date before acting on it.

  1. Fannie Mae, Selling Guide B3-6-02, Debt-to-Income Ratios. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
  2. Freddie Mac, Mortgage Rates (Primary Mortgage Market Survey). Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
  3. Federal Register, Federal Register: General QM final rule ↩
  4. HUD Handbook 4000.1 (Update 18) ↩
  5. 38 CFR 36.4340 (VA) ↩
  6. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What is a debt-to-income ratio?. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
  7. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Qualified Mortgage Definition under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z): General QM Loan Definition. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
  8. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1, II.A.5, Approvable Ratio Requirements (Manual). Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
  9. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average in the United States (MORTGAGE30US). Checked 2026-09-26. ↩

Calculators are educational estimates, not financial advice. Disclosures · How pages are reviewed