Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator
Enter monthly debt payments and gross monthly income; the calculator returns the debt-to-income ratio as a percentage with one decimal place, using the CFPB definition.
Open the full Debt Payoff Planner to model payoff plans for the debts behind the payments.
Disclaimer
Not financial advice. This calculator is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice, tax advice, or a recommendation. Consider speaking with a qualified professional about your situation.
Assumptions. Interest is calculated monthly as balance × APR ÷ 12 and applied before each payment (monthly compounding). If you leave a minimum payment blank, it is estimated as the largest of: 2% of the balance, one month's interest + 1% of the balance, or $25 — actual minimums vary by lender. Simulations stop at 600 months. Displayed amounts are rounded to the nearest cent.
Data sources. Formulas: standard amortization math. No external data feeds. Page last updated: 2026-10-18.
How the math works
The debt-to-income (DTI) ratio on this page follows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau definition: total monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income, multiplied by 100 and expressed as a percentage. Gross monthly income means income before taxes and other deductions. Payments can be entered as an itemized list — the calculator sums them — or the list can hold a single row with the total; both paths produce the same numerator.
The computation itself is one division: DTI = (total monthly debt payments ÷ gross monthly income) × 100. The engine then rounds the result half-up to one decimal place, so $2,000 of monthly payments against $6,000 of gross monthly income displays as 33.3%. The single decimal keeps small differences between scenarios visible without implying more precision than the entered numbers support.
Four rules govern this page. First, the formula is the CFPB definition stated above — nothing is added to or removed from either side of the division. Second, the display rounds half-up to one decimal place; the underlying division keeps full precision. Third, gross monthly income must be greater than zero, and every payment must be zero or greater — a non-positive income cannot produce a ratio and is treated as invalid input. Fourth, this page publishes no threshold bands: the CFPB supplies the definition, and lenders set their own limits, which vary by lender, loan type, and program.
Because no thresholds are published here, the result is presented as a measurement without a verdict. The same monthly payments produce different ratios at different incomes, and the same income produces different ratios as payments change; the page shows the number and leaves interpretation to the reader and to the lenders whose limits apply. Sourcing citable threshold bands is a documented open item for a future update; until then, definition plus lender-variability is the complete factual context.
The payments entered here are the same minimums that drive the payoff simulations elsewhere on this site: the credit card payoff calculator models how those payments evolve against balances and APRs, and the minimum payment calculator shows the long-run cost when only minimums are paid. This page answers the narrower question of what those payments represent as a share of gross income.
Worked example
Monthly debt payments: car loan $420, student loan $310, credit card minimums $270. Gross monthly income: $5,000.
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| Total monthly debt payments | $420 + $310 + $270 = $1,000 |
| Gross monthly income | $5,000 |
| Division | $1,000 ÷ $5,000 = 0.20 |
| As a percentage | 0.20 × 100 = 20.0% |
| Displayed DTI | 20.0% |
The same arithmetic on a second input pair: $2,000 of monthly debt payments divided by $6,000 of gross monthly income equals 0.3333…, which displays as 33.3% after round-half-up to one decimal place.
Frequently asked questions
What is a debt-to-income ratio?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) defines the debt-to-income ratio as total monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income, expressed as a percentage. Gross monthly income means income before taxes and other deductions. This page computes exactly that ratio and nothing else.
Which payments count as monthly debt payments?
Recurring required payments on debts: mortgage or rent obligations lenders count, auto loans, student loans, and credit card minimum payments, among others. Enter them itemized or as a single total; the sum is the numerator of the ratio. The calculator does not categorize or judge the entries.
Why is the result shown with one decimal place?
The engine divides total monthly payments by gross monthly income, multiplies by 100, and rounds half-up to one decimal place. The single decimal keeps small differences visible — for example, $2,000 of payments on $6,000 of income is 33.3% — without implying more precision than the inputs support.
What is a good debt-to-income ratio?
This page does not publish threshold bands or verdicts. The CFPB provides the definition used here; lenders set their own limits, and those limits vary by lender, loan type, and program. The number this calculator returns is a measurement, not an assessment.
Should income be gross or net?
Gross: the CFPB definition uses gross monthly income, meaning income before taxes and other deductions. Using net (take-home) income instead would produce a larger percentage for the same payments, so the two are not interchangeable. Income must be greater than zero for the ratio to compute.
Does this calculator store or share my numbers?
No. All computation runs locally in the browser; nothing is uploaded anywhere. The optional share-link feature on the planner pages encodes only the numbers typed into the URL fragment, which stays on the device unless the link is sent to someone.