On $75,000, the 28% rule buys a $285,493 house. At 7%, $262,930

Q: How much house can I afford on $75,000 a year?

By the common 28% rule of thumb, $75,000 a year allows $1,750 a month for the loan payment, property tax and insurance. On a 30-year loan at 6% with 20% down, and tax and insurance of 1.6% of the price a year, that buys a home of about $285,493. Those are example figures, and a lender will use your own.

Q: How much does the interest rate change it?

A great deal. The same $1,750 a month buys about $310,950 at 5% and $262,930 at 7%, so two points of rate are worth $48,020 of house on the same salary.

Q: Is 28% of your income too much for a house?

The 28% is measured against pay before tax. On $75,000, $1,750 a month is 28% of pay before tax and about 34% of estimated take-home pay after federal income tax and FICA. Whether that is too much is not something a ratio can answer.

October 11, 2026 · 5 min read

On a $75,000 salary, the usual rule of thumb points at a home of about $285,493. Change one number, the interest rate, by a single point and the answer moves by $22,563 or more. The salary did not change. The house did.

How much house can I afford on $75,000 a year?

The figure most often quoted comes from the 28/36 rule, a guideline lenders use and not a law: housing costs of no more than 28% of pay before tax. $75,000 a year is $6,250 a month, and 28% of that is $1,750 for the loan payment, property tax and insurance together.

What that buys depends on three things we have to assume. Here they are a 30-year loan at 6%, 20% down, and property tax and insurance of 1.6% of the price a year. They are examples, not a current rate and not your county’s tax.

Home price: $285,493
Down payment, 20%: $57,099
Loan: $228,395
Each month: $1,369.34 to the loan and $380.66 for tax and insurance, which is $1,750.

How much does the interest rate change it?

The budget is fixed at $1,750 a month. The rate decides how much loan that payment supports, and so how much house.

Home price a $1,750 monthly budget buys, by interest rate

At 5%: $310,950
At 6%: $285,493
At 7%: $262,930

The same salary and the same $1,750 a month buy $310,950 at 5% and $262,930 at 7%. Two points of rate are worth $48,020 of house.

Is 28% of your income too much for a house?

The rule is measured against pay before tax, which is not the money that arrives. On $75,000, estimated take-home pay after federal income tax and FICA is $5,133 a month in 2026, before any state tax.

The $1,750 housing budget against monthly pay on $75,000

Pay before tax: $6,250
Estimated take-home pay: $5,133
Housing at 28% of pay before tax: $1,750

$1,750 is 28% of pay before tax and 34% of estimated take-home pay. That leaves $3,383 a month for everything else, before state tax.

Whether that is too much is not something a ratio can answer. It is what a lender may be willing to lend against, which is a different question from what a household can live with.

What the rule of thumb leaves out

Other debts. The second half of the rule caps housing and all other debt payments together at 36% of pay before tax. A car loan or student loan comes out of the same room.
The down payment. $57,099 in cash is part of this example. With less down the loan is larger, and mortgage insurance is usually added.
Closing costs, repairs and utilities. None are in the $1,750.
State and local tax. The take-home figure is federal only.

What this does not tell you

This is arithmetic on one example. The rate, the down payment and the tax and insurance figures are ones we chose, and a lender will use yours and may lend more or less than the rule suggests. It does not say what you should spend on a home. Not financial advice.

The mortgage calculator works out the monthly cost of a specific home with your own rate, tax and insurance, and the take-home pay calculator estimates what your own salary leaves each month.