How much house can I afford on $80,000 a year?

If you're earning $80,000 a year and wondering what kind of mortgage that actually buys you, the honest answer is: somewhere between $200,000 and $290,000, depending on how much debt you're carrying, how much you've saved for a down payment, and how much risk you're comfortable taking on.

That's a wide range, and the difference between the low end and the high end is the difference between a comfortable life and one where every unexpected car repair sends you into a spiral. So let's break down where the numbers actually come from — and then you can

run your own scenario in our mortgage calculator

to see what works for your situation.

The 28/36 rule, and why it matters more than the bank's number

Here's a thing nobody tells you about mortgage pre-approvals: the bank will approve you for more house than you should buy. Their job is to find the maximum number where you probably won't default. Your job is to find the number where you can still afford to live.

The standard rule of thumb that mortgage lenders and financial planners actually agree on is called the 28/36 rule:

• No more than 28% of your gross monthly income should go toward your housing payment (mortgage principal + interest + property tax + insurance, usually called PITI)

• No more than 36% of your gross monthly income should go toward all your debt combined (housing + car loan + student loans + credit card minimums)

On $80,000 a year, your gross monthly income is $6,667. So:

• 28% of that = $1,867 max housing payment
• 36% of that = $2,400 max total debt

If your only debt is the mortgage, you can stretch toward the higher number. If you've got a $400/month car payment and $300/month in student loans, you've already used $700 of your $2,400 ceiling — leaving you about $1,700 for housing.

That single difference — having a car payment vs. not having one — moves your buying power by roughly $30,000 to $40,000 in home price.

What $1,800/month actually buys

Here's where it gets interesting. The same monthly payment buys wildly different homes depending on where interest rates are.

At a $1,800/month payment ceiling, with 20% down, no PMI, and standard property tax/insurance estimates:

• At 6% interest: ~$300,000 home price
• At 7% interest: ~$272,000 home price
• At 8% interest: ~$248,000 home price

Two-point swing in interest rates = a $50,000 swing in what you can afford. This is why people who bought in 2021 (sub-3% rates) feel like they got away with murder, and why everyone shopping right now feels squeezed.

Plug your specific income, down payment, and current rate into the mortgage calculator

— it'll show you the actual home price your budget supports, not just a vague rule-of-thumb estimate.

Three real scenarios

Let's walk through what this looks like for actual people.

Scenario 1: Single, no debt, $40k saved

You're 32, earning $80k, no car payment, finished with student loans, and you've saved $40k for a down payment.

• Max housing payment (28%): $1,867
• Max total debt (36%): $2,400 — but you have no other debt, so all $1,867 is available
• Down payment: $40,000

At today's ~7% rates, that gets you to roughly a $280,000 home with 20% down — but $40k isn't 20% of $280k, it's about 14%. That means PMI (mortgage insurance) until you hit 20% equity, which adds about $130/month to your payment.

Realistic number: a $260,000-$280,000 home, with PMI for the first few years.

Scenario 2: Couple combined $80k, $500/month other debt

You and your partner combine to $80k household income. You have a car loan with $500/month payments and one of you carries $200/month in student loans.

• Max total debt (36%): $2,400
• Other debt: $700
• Max housing payment: $1,700

Same 7% rate, same 20% down assumption: this lands you closer to a $240,000-$260,000 home.

Scenario 3: $80k, no debt, but only $15k saved

You make $80k, your debt is clean, but you've only saved $15k.

This is where most first-time buyers actually are. With $15k down on a $250,000 home, you're at 6% down — which means PMI for years AND a higher monthly payment because you're financing more.

In this scenario, an FHA loan (3.5% down minimum) might actually serve you better than trying to push toward conventional. But your effective buying power drops to about $225,000-$240,000 because of how much PMI eats into your monthly budget.

What the rule of thumb misses

The 28/36 rule is a starting point, not the whole story. Here are three things that change what you can actually afford, beyond the bank math:

1. Property tax varies wildly by location. A $250,000 home in Texas has very different annual carrying costs than the same home in California or New Jersey. Property tax can swing your true monthly payment by $300-500.

2. HOA fees are silent killers. A condo or townhouse with a $300/month HOA fee eats directly into your 28% ceiling. Always include HOA in your housing math, not as a separate line item.

3. Maintenance is roughly 1% of the home's value per year. A $260,000 home costs about $2,600/year in maintenance on average — water heaters, roof patches, HVAC service, the random plumbing problem at midnight. That's another $215/month you should be quietly setting aside.

When you account for taxes, insurance, HOA, and maintenance properly, the number of "house you can afford" usually drops by 10-15% from what the bank says.

The bottom line

On $80,000 a year, a target home price of $250,000 to $280,000 is realistic if you've got 15-20% down, no other significant debt, and you're buying in a moderate property tax area. Push toward $300k+ and you start eating into the budget you need for everything else in life — retirement contributions, emergency fund, car replacement, vacations, the dentist visit you've been putting off.

The bank will approve you for more. Don't let them.

Run your own numbers in the mortgage calculator

— adjust the home price, down payment, interest rate, and loan term to find what actually works for your situation. The whole calculator is free, no email signup, and it shows you the full amortization breakdown so you can see exactly where every dollar goes over the life of the loan.