Home affordability guides
Every guide below is built on the same engine as the calculator: take-home pay rather than gross income, and each state's real property tax and insurance rates. The figures in these articles are computed from the tool itself, so they cannot drift apart from it.
What can I afford on my salary?
Each page works through one income from gross pay to a defensible home price, and shows what a lender's calculator would claim instead.
How Much House Can I Afford on a $50,000 Salary?
On $50,000 the honest range is about $80,500 to $100,500. Here is where that buys a home, where it does not, and which loan programs exist for this income.
How Much House Can I Afford on a $60,000 Salary?
On $60,000 you take home about $3,377 to $3,774 a month. Here is the home price that actually fits, why a bank calculator says $184,500, and what changes it.
How Much House Can I Afford on a $75,000 Salary?
A $75,000 salary supports roughly $119,000 to $150,000 of house, not the $235,500 a bank calculator quotes. Here is the arithmetic, state by state.
How Much House Can I Afford on an $80,000 Salary?
$80,000 is almost exactly the US median household income. Here is what the median earner can actually buy, and why it is not the median house.
How Much House Can I Afford on a $100,000 Salary?
Six figures buys about $152,500 to $194,000 of house, not the $320,000 a lender calculator quotes. Includes the states where low taxes buy you less house.
How Much House Can I Afford on a $120,000 Salary?
$120,000 supports roughly $196,000 to $246,500. Includes the relocation math: why the same salary buys wildly different houses in different states.
How Much House Can I Afford on a $150,000 Household Income?
A $150,000 household supports roughly $241,500 to $305,000 of house. Includes what filing jointly is worth, and the risk of underwriting a mortgage on two incomes.
How Much House Can I Afford on a $200,000 Salary?
$200,000 supports roughly $309,000 to $392,500 on take-home-pay math - far less than the $658,500 a lender will quote. Includes jumbo loan thresholds.
Tools
Same idea as the calculator on the home page, applied to renting and to the choice between the two.
Rent Reality Calculator
Calculate the true cost of renting an apartment including utilities, parking, fees, insurance, commuting, and move-in costs.
Rent vs Buy Calculator: When Does Buying Break Even?
Compare the real cost of renting against the real cost of owning, with property tax and insurance filled in from your state and county. Find the year buying breaks even.
How the costs actually work
The lines lenders quote quickly, explained properly.
The 28/36 Rule: Where It Came From and Why It Overstates What You Can Afford
The 28/36 rule applies to gross income, which is money you never receive. Here is what it produces, what lenders actually allow, and what to use instead.
What Is PMI, What Does It Cost, and When Does It Go Away?
PMI protects your lender, not you. Here is what it actually costs by down payment and credit score, and the three ways it ends.
Property Taxes by State (2026): Effective Rates and What They Cost Monthly
Effective property tax rates for all 50 states and DC, from 0.29% in Hawaii to 1.88% in Illinois, with what each costs per month and why it changes what you can afford.
Closing Costs Explained: What You Actually Pay Beyond the Down Payment
Closing costs run about 2-5% of the purchase price, in cash, on top of your down payment. Here is every line item and which ones you can negotiate.
How the numbers are produced
Every figure on this site is computed by the same engine that powers the calculator, from published sources. The methodology page documents each formula, constant and data source, and states plainly which inputs are exact and which are estimates.
Prefer your own numbers? Use the calculator — it takes your state, county, debts, credit score and down payment, and everything runs in your browser.