Rent Affordability Calculator

The thirty percent guideline comes from US housing policy, where a household spending more than thirty percent of income on housing is counted as cost-burdened. It is a measure for describing populations, not a personal limit, and plenty of households live above it because the local market leaves no alternative.

Landlords often apply their own screen, commonly gross monthly income of around three times the rent, sometimes more in tight markets. That test is applied to gross pay while your budget runs on take-home, which is why a flat you can technically qualify for can still be uncomfortable.