Enter your monthly income and break down your monthly debt payments — mortgage, car loan, credit cards, student loans, and more — to calculate your Debt-to-Income (DTI) ratio. You'll see your DTI percentage alongside a clear breakdown of what's driving it, plus guidance on whether your ratio is healthy for borrowing.
Your DTI Ratio
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Total Monthly Debt
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Gross Monthly Income
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DTI Assessment
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Remaining Monthly Income
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Your debt-to-income ratio is the percentage of your gross monthly income that goes toward paying your monthly debts. It is calculated by dividing your total monthly debt payments by your gross (pre-tax) monthly income and multiplying by 100. For example, if you earn $5,000/month and pay $1,500 in debts, your DTI is 30%.
Generally, a DTI of 36% or below is considered good, and most lenders prefer it. A DTI between 37–49% suggests you have room to improve, while a DTI of 50% or higher is a red flag for lenders and indicates financial stress. For conventional mortgages, lenders typically want to see a DTI no higher than 43–45%.
DTI is calculated by adding up all your monthly debt obligations — mortgage or rent, car loans, student loans, credit card minimums, and other recurring debt — then dividing that total by your gross monthly income (before taxes). The result is expressed as a percentage.
Most conventional lenders require a back-end DTI of 43% or less to qualify for a mortgage, though some programs allow up to 50%. FHA loans may allow DTIs up to 57% in certain cases. The lower your DTI, the more favorable your loan terms are likely to be.
Front-end DTI (also called the housing ratio) includes only housing-related costs — mortgage principal, interest, property taxes, and insurance — divided by gross income. Back-end DTI includes all monthly debt obligations including housing costs, credit cards, auto loans, and student loans. Lenders typically evaluate both, but the back-end DTI carries more weight.
Lenders use your DTI ratio to assess how much of your income is already committed to debt, which determines how large a monthly mortgage payment you can realistically handle. A lower DTI means you have more room in your budget for a mortgage, potentially qualifying you for a larger loan or better interest rate.
You can lower your DTI by increasing your gross income (taking on a second job, freelance work, or a raise), paying down existing debts to reduce monthly obligations, or avoiding taking on new debt before applying for a loan. Even paying off a small credit card balance can meaningfully reduce your DTI.
DTI itself is not directly factored into your credit score calculation, but it is a critical metric lenders review during the loan approval process. However, high debt levels relative to your credit limits — known as credit utilization — do affect your score. Keeping both your DTI and your credit utilization low puts you in the strongest borrowing position.