When does a home stop being a stretch and start being a strain? The house poor calculator checks a household's housing costs against the line HUD uses for cost burden: more than 30% of gross income. Above 50%, HUD counts a household as severely cost burdened.
Many owners are already past the first line. About 27% of US households with a mortgage spent more than 30% of their income on housing in 2023, according to Census Bureau American Community Survey figures reported by Pew Research Center in October 2024. Among renters, the share was close to half.
What counts as a housing cost
The calculator follows the Census Bureau's definition: the mortgage or rent, property tax, insurance, HOA or condo fees, and utilities. Lenders' debt-to-income ratios usually leave utilities out, so the calculator shows both measures. Lenders aim for housing at 28% of gross income or less, and housing plus other debts at 36% or less. Most stop around 43%.
Here is the most a household can spend on housing each month and stay within each line:
| Household income | 28% | 30% (HUD line) | 50% (severe) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $1,167 | $1,250 | $2,083 |
| $75,000 | $1,750 | $1,875 | $3,125 |
| $100,000 | $2,333 | $2,500 | $4,167 |
| $150,000 | $3,500 | $3,750 | $6,250 |
| $200,000 | $4,667 | $5,000 | $8,333 |
A worked example
The calculator's starting household earns $120,000 a year, or $10,000 a month before taxes, and takes home $7,400. It pays $2,000 a month in principal and interest, $500 for tax, insurance and HOA dues, and $300 for utilities. That is $2,800 a month, or 28% of gross income.
Its other debts come to $400 a month. The lender-style ratio, which skips utilities, is $2,900, or 29% of income. Savings of $15,000 cover 4.7 months of housing and debt payments. The calculator also sets aside 1% of the $425,000 home's value a year for upkeep, or $354 a month. After housing, debts and upkeep, $3,846 of take-home pay is left each month.
The verdict is "not house poor, but stretched." Housing sits inside HUD's 30% line but above the 28% comfort guideline, and savings fall short of the 6 months the page calls safer. The margin is thin. Another $200 a month in housing costs, such as a tax or insurance increase, would put this household right at $3,000, the 30% line. Any more would cross it. To carry $2,800 of housing at exactly 30% of income, a household would need $112,000 a year.
How the calculator decides
- Severely house poor: housing costs over 50% of gross income.
- House poor: housing over 30% of gross income, or housing, upkeep and debts that cost more than take-home pay.
- Stretched: within 30%, but housing over 28%, housing plus debts over 36%, or less than 6 months of payments in savings.
- Not house poor: within all of those.
Upkeep counts against what's left each month, not against the 30% ratio. The page defines house poor as a homeowner who can make the mortgage payment but has little left for savings, repairs, retirement or everyday life.
What the calculator leaves out
It is an educational check against widely used guidelines, not a full budget. Job security, other savings and goals matter too. The 1% upkeep figure is a common rule of thumb, and older homes need more. For households over the line, the page lists ways to lower the cost of the house or raise the income that pays for it. They include refinancing if rates fall, a recast after a lump-sum payment, a property tax appeal, shopping for home insurance, paying down other debts, renting out a room, or selling. A HUD-approved housing counselor can review a budget for free or at low cost.
Where the figures come from
The 30% and 50% lines are HUD's standard, which the Census Bureau uses in its housing cost burden figures. The 27% share of mortgaged households comes from Census Bureau American Community Survey data for 2023, as reported by Pew Research Center on October 25, 2024. The 28% and 36% guidelines are lenders' common rules of thumb.
Use it on your own site
The house poor calculator is free to embed on a blog or website with copy-and-paste code, with no ads or tracking. Here is how to embed it.
Source: Pew Research Center, October 25, 2024, from 2023 Census Bureau data; US Census Bureau, 2024. Figures are educational estimates, not financial advice.