Do you know how much you can afford for rent for your next apartment, or how much you ought to spend? Many apartment searches begin with a desire to move to a particular area, or a search for an apartment with a specific feature—like a great view or outdoor space. But how much apartment can you afford?

Recent studies indicate that one in four renters nationally spends more than half of their income on rent and utilities. Apartment hunting is all about finding a good deal, so everyone's asking: "How much should I spend on rent?"

The general rule is that your monthly apartment rent (excluding utilities) should not exceed 30% of your gross monthly income. So, to help you budget effectively, we created this handy rent affordabilty calculator. Use the formulas in this rent calculator to come up with an effective plan to see how much to spend on rent for your next apartment.

Wondering if you should rent vs. buy? This calculator may act as a guiding beacon as a rent vs buy calculator. Domu arrives at the rental ranges above using a basic formula that produces a lower rental range, a middle range and higher range. The ranges in this rental calculator don’t factor in any other debts that renters have.

How Apartment Landlords Can Use Our Rent Calculator

Landlords searching for a way to double-check an income range to match their apartment’s listing price can use this rent affordability calculator. Before investing time and effort into the tenant screening process, this can be a good preliminary check on how much rent tenants can afford.

Landlords who are in the process of setting up their apartment for rent can benefit from this simple tool. Landlords may even look at this as a “How Much Rent to Charge?” calculator.

