● Money & small business
How much house can I afford on $50k, $75k, $100k, $150k or $200k a year?
The same question has a different answer for every buyer, but the way the answer is built doesn't change. Here's the lender-style maximum price for seven incomes and three amounts of cash, all from the same verified model as our home affordability calculator, so you can see where income stops mattering and cash takes over.
The assumptions
- 28/36 rule: housing up to 28% of gross income, housing plus other debts up to 36%. $400 a month of other debt payments.
- 30-year loan at 6.5%. Closing costs 3% of the price, property tax 1.1% a year, $1,800 a year of insurance, no HOA.
- PMI of 0.6% of the loan a year while the down payment is under 20%. A minimum down payment of 5%.
- All the cash goes in at closing (closing costs first, the rest as the down payment), with an emergency fund kept aside.
Maximum price by income and cash
| Gross income | $30,000 to put in | $60,000 to put in | $120,000 to put in |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $145,382 | $178,975 | $230,038 |
| $75,000 | $227,226 | $260,870 * | $317,556 |
| $100,000 | $300,675 | $326,440 | $396,099 |
| $125,000 | $374,125 | $399,889 | $474,642 |
| $150,000 | $375,000 (cash) | $473,339 | $524,868 |
| $200,000 | $375,000 (cash) | $620,238 | $671,767 |
| $250,000 | $375,000 (cash) | $750,000 (cash) | $818,666 |
"(cash)" means the price is capped by the cash, not the payment: 5% down plus 3% closing costs uses all of it. * is the PMI cliff, below.
Three patterns in the table
At $50,000, the debts decide. $400 of debts is more than the gap between the two limits (8% of income, $333 a month), so the 36% limit binds and the housing budget is $1,100 a month instead of $1,166.67. From $75,000 up, the 28% limit binds and the $400 doesn't change the answer.
With little cash, income stops mattering. With $30,000, the price can't go above $375,000, because 5% down plus 3% closing costs is 8% of the price. That's why $150,000, $200,000 and $250,000 incomes all land on the same number. At $150,000 the payment there is $2,924 a month against a $3,500 budget.
The PMI cliff at 20% down. At $75,000 with $60,000, the maximum is $260,870: the price where the cash covers exactly 20% down plus closing costs ($60,000 ÷ 23%). The monthly cost there is $1,708, $42 under the $1,750 budget. Any higher price puts the down payment under 20%, PMI starts, and the cost jumps over the budget: $1,812.59 a month at $260,871, rising from there. No higher price fits, so the extra room in the budget can't be used.
Reading your own row
- Your housing budget is the lower of 28% of gross monthly income and 36% minus your monthly debt payments.
- Your cash sets a separate ceiling: cash ÷ (minimum down payment + closing costs).
- Your maximum price is the highest price whose monthly cost (principal and interest, tax, insurance, HOA, PMI) fits the budget and whose cash fits the ceiling.
A worked example with $110,000 of income and what each change is worth is in how much house can I afford on $110,000. To run your own numbers, the free home affordability calculator uses the same model. These are lender-style ceilings, not targets: they're based on gross income and ignore childcare, commuting and saving. Every figure above comes from the verified model, where each maximum was checked against a closed-form solution and a search. Not financial advice.