Use this DTI calculator to measure your debt-to-income ratio, one of the most important numbers lenders look at when deciding whether to approve your loan application.

What is a DTI Calculator?

A DTI calculator measures your debt-to-income ratio, one of the most important numbers lenders look at when deciding whether to approve your loan application. When you apply for a mortgage, car loan, or any major financing, lenders want to know if you can actually afford the monthly payments on top of your existing obligations. Your DTI ratio answers that question with a single percentage.

The calculation is straightforward: it divides your total monthly debt payments by your gross monthly income (what you earn before taxes). The result tells lenders what portion of your income is already committed to debt. A lower ratio signals you have room in your budget for new payments. A higher ratio suggests you're stretched thin and might struggle with additional debt.

This calculator breaks your DTI into two types. Front-end DTI focuses solely on housing costs—your mortgage or rent, property taxes, insurance, and HOA fees. Back-end DTI includes everything: housing plus car loans, student loans, credit cards, and any other monthly debt obligations. Lenders pay closest attention to your back-end DTI because it reveals your complete financial picture.

Understanding your DTI before applying for financing gives you crucial insights. You'll know if you're likely to get approved, if you need to pay down debt first, or if you should wait before taking on new payments. It transforms loan applications from anxious guessing into informed decision-making.

Understanding What Information to Enter

The DTI calculator needs details about your income and all your monthly debt obligations:

Gross Monthly Income – Enter what you earn each month before any deductions. This is your total salary or wages before taxes, retirement contributions, health insurance, or anything else gets taken out. If you're paid biweekly, multiply one paycheck by 26 and divide by 12. If you have additional income from side jobs, bonuses, or investments, include those too if they're reliable and recurring.

Rent or Mortgage – Your monthly housing payment. For renters, this is straightforward. For homeowners with a mortgage, enter your principal and interest payment. If your mortgage payment already includes taxes and insurance through an escrow account, make sure not to double-count them in the separate fields below.

HOA Fees – Monthly homeowners association fees, if applicable. Lenders count these as part of your housing costs because they're mandatory and can't be avoided.

Home Insurance – Your monthly homeowners or renters insurance cost. If you pay annually, divide by 12. Even if this is escrowed with your mortgage, enter it separately so the calculator can properly categorize your housing expenses.

Property Taxes – Monthly property tax amount. Again, if you pay annually or semi-annually, divide by 12 to get the monthly figure. If this is already included in your mortgage payment through escrow, don't enter it again—you'd be counting it twice.

Car Loans – Total monthly payments for all vehicle financing. If you have two car payments, add them together and enter the combined amount.

Student Loans – All monthly student loan payments combined. Include federal and private loans, but only the required monthly payment—not what you choose to pay extra.

Credit Cards – This is where people often make mistakes. Enter only your minimum required monthly payments across all cards, not your current balances. Lenders care about the monthly obligation, not what you owe overall. Add up the minimum payments from all your credit card statements.

Other Loans – Any other monthly debt obligations. Personal loans, home equity lines of credit, medical payment plans, child support, alimony—anything that shows up as a monthly payment commitment.

How DTI Gets Calculated

The calculator processes your information through two simple but revealing formulas:

Front-End DTI Calculation

This shows what percentage of your income goes to housing:

Front-End DTI = (Housing Expenses ÷ Gross Monthly Income) × 100

Housing expenses include rent/mortgage, HOA fees, insurance, and property taxes. For example, if your housing costs $2,000 monthly and you earn $6,000, your front-end DTI is 33.3%.

Back-End DTI Calculation

This shows what percentage of your income goes to all debt:

Back-End DTI = (Total Monthly Debt ÷ Gross Monthly Income) × 100

Total monthly debt includes everything: housing plus all other loans and credit obligations. Using the same $6,000 income, if you have $2,000 in housing, $400 in car payments, $300 in student loans, and $200 in credit card minimums, your total debt is $2,900 and your back-end DTI is 48.3%.

Available Income

The calculator also shows how much money you have left after debt payments:

Available Income = Gross Monthly Income − Total Monthly Debt

This number matters because it represents what's left for food, utilities, gas, savings, entertainment—everything else in life. If this number feels uncomfortably small, your DTI is probably too high.

Understanding Your Results

The calculator presents several numbers that paint a complete picture of your debt situation:

Back-End DTI – This is your headline number displayed prominently. It's the percentage of your gross income consumed by all debt payments. Lenders focus heavily on this figure because it shows your complete debt burden. The calculator color-codes this result to help you interpret it instantly.

Status Badge – Shows whether your DTI is "Good," "Moderate," or "High" based on lending standards:

• Good (Under 36%): You're in excellent shape. Lenders see you as low-risk, and you should qualify for favorable loan terms.
• Moderate (36-43%): You're in the acceptable range but approaching the upper limits. You'll likely still qualify for loans, but lenders will scrutinize your application more carefully.
• High (Above 43%): You're in the danger zone. Many lenders won't approve new financing at this level. You need to pay down debt or increase income before taking on more obligations.

Front-End DTI – Displayed as a subtitle, this shows what percentage of your income goes solely to housing. Mortgage lenders typically want this under 28%. If your front-end is fine but your back-end is high, it signals that non-housing debt is your problem.

Total Monthly Debt – The actual dollar amount you're paying toward debt every month. Seeing this as a single number can be eye-opening—many people don't realize how much they're actually paying across all their obligations.

Gross Monthly Income – Your total monthly income displayed for reference, helping you see the relationship between what you earn and what you owe.

Money Leftover – What remains after all debt payments. This is your actual financial cushion for everything else in life. If this number is smaller than you expected, it explains why money feels tight even though you're "making good money."

Visual Chart – A doughnut chart showing the split between debt payments and available income. The chart changes color based on your DTI level—blue for good, orange for moderate, red for high. One glance tells you whether debt is consuming a healthy or concerning portion of your income.

Conclusion

Lenders created the 36% and 43% thresholds based on decades of data showing when borrowers start struggling with payments. When more than 43% of your income goes to debt, statistically, you're much more likely to miss payments or default entirely. That's why most mortgage lenders won't approve conventional loans above this level.

But DTI isn't just about getting approved—it's about your quality of life. Even if a lender approves you at 45% DTI, consider what that means practically. Nearly half your gross income disappears to debt before you've bought groceries, put gas in your car, or saved anything for emergencies. After taxes reduce your take-home pay, you might have only 30-40% of your actual paycheck left for everything else.

The calculator helps you see these realities before you're sitting in a lender's office. Maybe you're planning to buy a house, but your DTI is already 40%. You now know you need to pay off some credit cards or a car loan first. Or maybe you're considering a new car payment, and the calculator shows it would push you from 35% to 44%—a clear signal to reconsider.

You can also work backwards. If you want to qualify for a specific loan, enter all your current debts plus the estimated new payment to see where you'd land. If it pushes you above 43%, you know you need to either increase your down payment to lower the payment, pay off other debt first, or wait until you're earning more.

Understanding and managing your DTI is one of the smartest financial moves you can make. It protects you from overextending, helps you qualify for better loan terms, and ensures your debt load doesn't prevent you from building savings, investing, or enjoying life. Those lender thresholds aren't arbitrary; they represent the difference between financial stability and financial stress.