Rent Affordability Calculator
Find out how much rent you can comfortably afford based on your gross income — at the 30% rule of thumb or any other threshold.
Standard (30%)
At 30% of gross income, max recommended rent is €1,050.00/month
The 30% rule of thumb — long the standard guidance for healthy household budgeting. Most renters at this level can also save and cover normal expenses.
Rent at standard thresholds
Results update as you type. Figures are based on gross income; net (after-tax) affordability is lower. The thresholds are population-level rules of thumb, not a substitute for your full budget.
Formula
One multiplication:
max_rent = monthly_gross_income × threshold_pct / 100.
The classic threshold is 30% — popularised by US HUD in the 1980s and adopted across global
tenant-referencing convention. The four named bands (25 / 30 / 35 / 40%) are common waypoints,
not a sharp clinical threshold; pick whichever fits the rest of your fixed costs.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What's the 30% rule?▾
Rent should stay below 30% of gross income — a long-standing rule of thumb adopted across Europe and originally US-derived. Eurostat reports 'housing cost overburden' at the 40% threshold (>40% of disposable income on housing). The 30% figure is a budgeting target; the 40% figure is the official policy threshold for housing stress.
Gross income or net?▾
Most rules quote gross. EU social charges and income tax are higher than the US average, so net pay is dramatically below gross — a 30% gross rent burden is often 40%+ of net. Landlords across the EU vary in what they ask for: many use gross income at 3× the rent (= 33% gross), some use net at the same multiple, some use a hard EUR floor.
Are utility costs included?▾
Usually no — rent alone. EU contracts split into 'cold rent' (Kaltmiete in Germany, loyer hors charges in France) plus utilities and service charges (Nebenkosten, charges). Add €100–€300 per month on top of cold rent for utilities, depending on country, climate, and usage. Some countries (NL, DK) increasingly use 'warm rent' that bundles utilities.
Is the 30% rule realistic across the EU?▾
Less so in major capitals. Eurostat data shows 8–10% of EU households are housing-cost-overburdened (over 40% of disposable income); the figure is much higher in Greece, Bulgaria, and parts of Spain, and notably lower in Slovakia, Slovenia, and Cyprus. Within high-rent cities (Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Dublin, Stockholm), 35–40% rent burdens are common.
What's the EU equivalent of the US 3x rent rule?▾
Varies by country. Germany typically uses 3× cold rent in gross income; the Netherlands often uses 4× with rent often capped to a percentage of social-housing benchmarks; France varies by city and landlord type. Across the EU, expect tenant referencing to require gross income at 3–4× the monthly rent, plus a guarantor for shorter rental histories.
Does this account for housing benefit / subsidies?▾
No — enter your gross income only. If you receive housing benefit (e.g. Wohngeld in Germany, APL in France, huurtoeslag in NL), your effective housing cost is lower. The calculator gives a market-rent affordability figure; subsidies and benefits adjust the actual out-of-pocket cost.