🏠 Rent Burden Calculator

The "30% rule" is a long-standing rule of thumb that spending 30% or less of your monthly income on rent is generally considered financially safe. For example, on a $4,000 monthly income, $1,200 or less is the safe zone. This calculator computes burden ratio as rent ÷ income × 100 and shows a 3-tier badge: under 20% is "Comfortable," 20-30% is "Approaching the Limit," and over 30% is "Burdened." For instance, on a $3,000 income with $1,000 rent, the ratio is 1000/3000×100 ≈ 33.3% — "Burdened." At $700 rent on the same income, it's 23.3% — "Approaching the Limit."

The guideline traces back to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which has long used a 30%-of-income-on-housing threshold to determine eligibility for public housing assistance.

The 30% rule is simple and useful, but it isn't absolute. At very low incomes, even 30% can leave too little for food, healthcare, and dependents, while at high incomes, 40-50% may still leave plenty of room. What's included in "rent" matters too — utilities, parking, and building fees can meaningfully shift the real burden, as can how many dependents you support and how cheap or expensive transportation is where you live. Calculating the ratio against take-home (after-tax) income rather than gross income gives a more realistic picture of what you can actually afford. Treat this calculator's result as a reference point, and build your actual budget alongside savings goals and any debt repayment plans.