At 7%, about 20% down and a payment of 25% of take-home, a $60K salary affords about $140K (max ~$177K), $80K about $188K (max ~$234K) and $100K about $234K (max ~$290K). Debts, taxes and your down payment shift it.
Mia is 26, a year into her first real job at $60,000, and three of her coworkers just bought houses. She types the obvious question into her phone: “how much house can I afford on $60K?” She gets a dozen answers, from $150,000 to $300,000, and none of them say how they got there.
This post is the reference table Mia was looking for: what the same set of rules says at salaries from $50,000 to $150,000, with every assumption written down, followed by what changes the answer for you.
The rules behind the tables
Every number below uses three rules of thumb:
- Target: total housing payment (mortgage, property tax, insurance, plus PMI or HOA if any) of about 25% of take-home pay.
- Red line: never more than one third of take-home pay.
- Price check: home price under about 3 times gross yearly income.
Why these rules, and how to apply them step by step, is covered in How Much House Can You Really Afford? Here we just run the numbers.
Assumptions
- Mortgage: 30-year fixed at a 7% rate.
- Down payment: half a year’s gross salary (for example $30,000 at $60,000). At the target price, that works out to about 21% down, so no PMI.
- Property tax: 1% of the price per year.
- Homeowners insurance: $1,800 a year at every price. Real quotes run lower on cheaper homes and higher on pricier ones and in storm-prone states.
- HOA: none.
- Other debts: $300 a month (say, a small car loan). This only affects the lender column.
- Take-home pay: single filer, 2026 federal tax brackets with the standard deduction, 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare, and a flat 4% for state and local tax. No 401(k) or health premiums deducted, so your real take-home is probably lower. Use your own pay stub when you can.
All figures come from the same formulas as our home affordability calculator, so you can reproduce any row.
Monthly payment by salary
| Gross salary | Est. take-home per month | Target payment (25%) | Red line (33%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $3,363 | $841 | $1,121 |
| $60,000 | $3,999 | $1,000 | $1,333 |
| $70,000 | $4,606 | $1,152 | $1,535 |
| $80,000 | $5,159 | $1,290 | $1,720 |
| $90,000 | $5,712 | $1,428 | $1,904 |
| $100,000 | $6,265 | $1,566 | $2,088 |
| $120,000 | $7,371 | $1,843 | $2,457 |
| $150,000 | $8,983 | $2,246 | $2,994 |
Notice take-home drops from about 81% of gross at $50,000 to about 72% at $150,000. Higher incomes hit higher tax brackets, which is one reason gross-income rules flatter bigger salaries.
Home price by salary
| Gross salary | Down payment | Comfortable price (target) | Maximum price (red line)* | 3× income | Lender may approve (28/36) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $25,000 | $114,000 | $145,000 | $150,000 | $158,000 |
| $60,000 | $30,000 | $140,000 | $177,000 | $180,000 | $194,000 |
| $70,000 | $35,000 | $165,000 | $207,000 | $210,000 | $229,000 |
| $80,000 | $40,000 | $188,000 | $234,000 | $240,000 | $265,000 |
| $90,000 | $45,000 | $211,000 | $262,000 | $270,000 | $300,000 |
| $100,000 | $50,000 | $234,000 | $290,000 | $300,000 | $336,000 |
| $120,000 | $60,000 | $279,000 | $346,000 | $360,000 | $407,000 |
| $150,000 | $75,000 | $347,000 | $427,000 | $450,000 | $514,000 |
*At the red-line price, half a year’s salary is only about 16% down, so this column includes PMI at 0.5% of the loan per year. The calculator leaves PMI out, so if you run it at 33% it will show about 4% to 5% more.
How to read it
Under these assumptions, the red line and the 3× rule land in almost the same place. That’s a useful cross-check: two different rules, one built on monthly cash flow and one on loan size, agree on the ceiling. The comfortable price, where you have real breathing room, sits about 20% below it.
The last column is the classic 28/36 lender guideline. Many lenders approve even more: at 45% to 50% total debt-to-income, an $80,000 earner with $40,000 down could be offered something like $358,000 to $400,000. Why that number isn’t your number is the whole subject of Pre-Approved vs. Affordable.
Three common salaries, up close
How much house can I afford on $60K?
About $140,000 comfortably, with a total payment around $1,000 a month, and no more than about $177,000 to $180,000. A lender using 28/36 might go to $194,000; a looser lender, well past $250,000. On $60,000, every $10,000 of house price you borrow costs roughly $75 a month in mortgage and property tax at 7%.
How much house can I afford on $80K?
About $188,000 comfortably, at roughly $1,290 a month, with a ceiling around $234,000 to $240,000. The 28/36 guideline says $265,000. That $77,000 difference between comfortable and lender-approved is where most $80,000 households end up house poor.
How much house can I afford on $100K?
About $234,000 comfortably, at roughly $1,566 a month, with a ceiling near $290,000 to $300,000. The 28/36 lender figure is $336,000, and a lender stretching to 50% DTI could approve over $500,000. The gap gets bigger, not smaller, as income rises.
If your salary falls between rows
Under these assumptions, each extra $10,000 of salary adds roughly $23,000 to $25,000 of comfortable price, and roughly $27,000 to $32,000 to the maximum. So $75,000 lands near $176,000 comfortable and $220,000 maximum. For anything more precise, use the calculator below with your own take-home pay.
Mistakes people make with salary charts
- Using gross pay for the payment. The tables convert salary to estimated take-home first. If your 401(k), health premiums or state taxes are higher than our estimate, your real numbers are lower.
- Treating the maximum as the goal. The red-line column is a limit you stay under, not a price to shop at.
- Forgetting the down payment assumption. Every row assumes half a year’s salary saved for the down payment, with your emergency fund separate. Less saved means a lower price.
- Ignoring local costs. Property tax, insurance and HOA vary enough by area to move your number by tens of thousands of dollars.
Mia’s worked example
Mia’s real situation is a little different from the table row. She has $20,000 saved for a down payment (not $30,000), a separate emergency fund, and a $250 student loan payment.
- Take-home: about $4,000 a month.
- Target payment: $4,000 × 25% = $1,000. Red line: $4,000 ÷ 3 = $1,333.
- Price check: $60,000 × 3 = $180,000.
- Turn the target into a price. The calculator says $131,000 with $20,000 down. But $20,000 is only about 15% of that, so she’ll pay PMI. Including PMI, her comfortable price is about $125,000.
Here’s the $125,000 payment, checked with our mortgage calculator:
| Piece of the payment | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Principal and interest on $105,000 | $699 |
| Property tax (1%) | $104 |
| Insurance ($1,800 a year) | $150 |
| PMI (0.5% a year) | $44 |
| Total | $996 |
Her red-line price with PMI is about $168,000. A lender using 28/36 would approve about $185,000; her student loan doesn’t even change that figure, because the 28% housing limit kicks in first. So Mia’s honest range is $125,000 to $168,000, and $10,000 more in savings would move the comfortable end up to about $140,000.
Run your own numbers:
What moves your number
The tables use one set of assumptions. Here’s how much each one matters, using the $60,000 row (comfortable price, 25% of take-home) as the base.
Down payment
| Down payment | Comfortable price | With PMI included |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $122,000 | $116,000 |
| $20,000 | $131,000 | $125,000 |
| $30,000 | $140,000 | $140,000 (no PMI) |
| $50,000 | $158,000 | $158,000 (no PMI) |
Each extra $10,000 down adds roughly $9,000 of comfortable price, a little more when it gets you past 20% and removes PMI.
Interest rate
| Rate (30-year) | Comfortable price |
|---|---|
| 6.0% | $151,000 |
| 6.5% | $145,000 |
| 7.0% | $140,000 |
| 7.5% | $135,000 |
| 8.0% | $131,000 |
Each half point is worth about $5,000 of price at this income. That’s why it pays to get several lender quotes and to clean up your credit before you apply. A 15-year loan changes the picture a lot; see 15-Year vs. 30-Year Mortgage.
Property tax, insurance and HOA
| Change | Comfortable price |
|---|---|
| Base (1% tax, $1,800 insurance, no HOA) | $140,000 |
| Property tax 0.5% | $148,000 |
| Property tax 2% | $126,000 |
| Insurance $3,000 a year | $127,000 |
| HOA $150 a month | $120,000 |
| HOA $300 a month | $100,000 |
Where you buy matters as much as what you earn. A $300 HOA costs Mia $40,000 of house. Before you fall for a listing, look up its actual tax bill and HOA dues.
Other debts
| Other monthly debt payments | Lender may approve (28/36) | Comfortable price |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $194,000 | $140,000 |
| $300 | $194,000 | $140,000 |
| $600 | $167,000 | $140,000 |
| $900 | $127,000 | $140,000 |
The comfortable price doesn’t move, because a take-home rule doesn’t know about your car loan. Your budget does. If you carry more than a few hundred dollars a month in debt payments, set your target closer to 20% of take-home instead of 25%. At $60,000, that brings the comfortable price down to about $113,000.
Married or two incomes
Married couples filing jointly pay less federal tax on the same total income than a single filer. Under the same assumptions, $100,000 of combined income takes home about $6,726 a month instead of $6,265, which lifts the 25% target from $1,566 to about $1,681. Use your real combined take-home in the calculator. Then ask one more question: could you cover the payment on one income for six months?
What to do this week
- Find your salary row in the tables and note the comfortable price and the maximum.
- Replace the estimated take-home with the real number from your pay stub.
- Plug in your actual down payment, local property tax rate and an insurance quote in the calculator.
- Add up your monthly debt payments. If they’re more than a few hundred dollars, set your target to 20%.
- Look up the tax bill and HOA dues on two or three real listings in your price range.
One money decision, one number worth knowing, one mindset shift. Free, every week.
Frequently asked questions
How much house can I afford on a $50,000 salary?
Under our assumptions, about $114,000 comfortably (around $841 a month all in) and no more than about $145,000 to $150,000. A bigger down payment or lower property tax pushes it up.
How much house can I afford on a $120,000 salary?
About $279,000 comfortably, with a ceiling around $346,000 to $360,000, assuming $60,000 down, 7%, 1% property tax and $1,800 insurance.
Why are these numbers lower than online calculators?
Most online calculators use lender ratios based on gross income, often 28/36 or higher. These tables use your take-home pay, which is what you actually pay bills with.
Do the tables include closing costs and maintenance?
No. Plan on closing costs of about 2% to 5% of the price on top of your down payment, and set aside 1% to 2% of the home’s value a year for repairs.
Keep reading
- How Much House Can You Really Afford? The Complete Guide
- Pre-Approved vs. Affordable: Why the Bank’s Number Isn’t Your Number
- 15-Year vs. 30-Year Mortgage: Which Saves You More?
Education, not financial advice. The numbers here are examples; talk to a licensed professional about your own situation. Some links may be sponsored or affiliate links; see our disclosure.
