How much house can I afford on an $80,000 salary?

Using the 28 percent front-end rule, an $80,000 salary supports roughly $1,870 a month of housing cost including taxes, insurance and HOA. At current rates that typically maps to a purchase price in the low-to-mid $300,000s with 10-20 percent down, but the binding constraint is usually the down payment and local property tax, not the income.

What is the 28/36 rule?

Lenders commonly look for housing costs at or below 28 percent of gross monthly income and total debt payments at or below 36 percent. If you have student loans or a car payment, the 36 percent back-end limit can bind before the 28 percent limit does.

Should I use gross or take-home pay for a home budget?

Lenders use gross income; you should budget on net (take-home) pay. On $80,000 gross a single filer might take home roughly $5,000-5,300 a month depending on state and deductions, which is the number that actually has to cover the payment.

How Much House Can I Afford on $80,000 a Year?

Most "affordability" answers quote a rule of thumb and stop. This one runs the numbers end to end — gross income, take-home pay, the lender's rule, the payment after taxes and insurance, and the price that actually fits. Numbers below use a single filer with no other debt, 20% down, and a 30-year fixed rate; swap in your own with the mortgage calculator.

Step 1: start from take-home pay, not salary

$80,000 gross is about $6,667 a month. After federal tax, FICA and a typical state tax, a single filer usually nets somewhere around $5,000–5,300 a month. If you contribute to a 401(k), it is lower.

This matters because the lender qualifies you on gross and you live on net. A payment that is "approved" can still be uncomfortable if it eats 40% of what actually lands in your account.

Step 2: apply the 28/36 rule

Front-end (housing) limit: 28% × $6,667 = $1,867/month
Back-end (all debt) limit: 36% × $6,667 = $2,400/month

With no other debt, the front-end limit binds: about $1,870 a month for principal, interest, property tax, insurance and HOA combined. If you carry a $400 car payment and $250 in student loans, the back-end limit drops your housing budget to roughly $1,750 — before the 28% rule ever bites. That is why two people on the same salary qualify for very different houses.

Step 3: subtract everything that isn't the loan

The $1,870 is not all mortgage. A typical split on a mid-priced house:

Property tax: often 1–2% of value per year → roughly $250–450/month
Homeowners insurance: $100–180/month
HOA (if any): $0–300/month
PMI if you put down less than 20%: about 0.3–1.5% of the loan per year

Assume $550 for taxes and insurance and no HOA. That leaves about $1,320/month for principal and interest.

Step 4: turn the payment into a price

At a 6.5% 30-year fixed rate, a $1,320 principal-and-interest payment supports a loan of roughly $209,000. Add a 20% down payment and the purchase price lands near $261,000.

Two sensitivities worth seeing:

At 7.5% instead of 6.5%, the same payment supports about $189,000 of loan — roughly $236,000 of house. A one-point rate change costs about $25,000 of buying power at this income.
At 1.5% property tax instead of 1%, the tax line adds about $150/month, which removes about $24,000 from the price. High-tax states quietly shrink the budget.

Run your own combination in the mortgage calculator, and check the amortization split in how amortization works — at these rates the first years are mostly interest.

Step 5: the constraints the rule ignores

The 28/36 rule is a lender's screen, not a life plan. Three things it does not see:

Down payment. 20% of $261,000 is $52,000 in cash, plus closing costs of 2–5%. Most buyers cap out on cash long before they cap out on income.
Maintenance. Budget 1% of value per year — about $2,600 here, or $220/month. Renters never pay this and are always surprised.
Income stability. A payment set at the top of your range assumes the next 30 years look like this year. A single income household should usually leave more headroom.

Frequently asked questions

Is $80,000 a good salary to buy a house?

It supports a purchase in most US metros outside the expensive coastal ones, provided you have a down payment and no heavy debt. In high-tax or high-price metros the same income buys noticeably less.

How much should I put down?

20% avoids PMI and lowers the payment. Less than 20% is workable but adds insurance cost; use the calculator to see the difference in the monthly figure rather than assuming 20% is mandatory.

Does the 28/36 rule still apply in 2026?

It is still the common conventional-loan guideline, though automated underwriting looks at the whole file. Treat 28/36 as the ceiling, not the target.

What if I have a car loan?

Add it to the back-end 36% bucket. A $400 payment reduces housing budget by roughly the same amount, which at 6.5% is about $63,000 of purchase price.

Run it with your numbers

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