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Mortgage payment calculator

See what a home could cost each month, including the parts people forget: property tax, home insurance and mortgage insurance. Every assumption is yours to change, and every term is explained in plain words.

Your numbers

Start with the example and change anything. Nothing you type leaves this page.

$

The part you pay up front.

$
%
%

Not a quote. For scale only: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported a national average of 7.40% for a 30-year fixed loan on October 8, 2026, for buyers with good credit putting 20% down. Your rate depends on your credit, down payment and lender.

Taxes, insurance and extras

These starting values are round placeholders, not averages for your area. Use your county's tax bill and a real insurance quote.

% of the price, per year

%

per year

$

per month, if any

$

Only applies under 20% down

%

Estimated monthly payment

$2,732

on a $320,000 loan (20% down), before any utilities or upkeep.

  • Principal and interest
    Pays down the loan and pays the lender's interest.
    $2,216
  • Property tax
    Paid to your county, usually collected by the lender in escrow.
    $367
  • Home insurance
    Covers the house. Lenders require it.
    $150
Interest over 30 years
$477,622
Interest in the first 5 years
$115,410
Still owed after 5 years
$302,474
Principal and interest, all payments
$797,622
Year-by-year schedule
YearPrincipal paidInterest paidBalance
1$3,008$23,579$316,992
2$3,238$23,349$313,754
3$3,486$23,101$310,267
4$3,753$22,834$306,514
5$4,041$22,547$302,474
6$4,350$22,237$298,124
7$4,683$21,904$293,441
8$5,041$21,546$288,399
9$5,427$21,160$282,972
10$5,843$20,744$277,129
11$6,290$20,297$270,838
12$6,772$19,815$264,066
13$7,290$19,297$256,776
14$7,849$18,739$248,927
15$8,450$18,138$240,478
16$9,096$17,491$231,381
17$9,793$16,795$221,588
18$10,543$16,045$211,046
19$11,350$15,238$199,696
20$12,219$14,369$187,477
21$13,154$13,433$174,323
22$14,161$12,426$160,162
23$15,246$11,342$144,916
24$16,413$10,175$128,503
25$17,669$8,918$110,834
26$19,022$7,565$91,811
27$20,479$6,109$71,333
28$22,047$4,541$49,286
29$23,734$2,853$25,552
30$25,552$1,036$0

Estimate for a fixed-rate loan that is paid off on schedule. It does not include closing costs, utilities, upkeep, or the effect of extra payments. It is not an offer, a quote or a pre-approval.

A worked example, so the numbers make sense

Take a $400,000 home, a 30-year fixed loan at 7.4% (the national average mentioned above, used only as an example), property tax at 1.1% of the price a year and $1,800 a year for insurance.

With 20% down ($80,000)

You borrow $320,000. Principal and interest is about $2,216 a month. Add $367 for property tax and $150 for insurance and the payment is about $2,732. There is no PMI at 20% down.

With 10% down ($40,000)

You borrow $360,000, so principal and interest rises to $2,493. PMI adds roughly $165 (our rule-of-thumb estimate of 0.55% of the loan a year) and the total is about $3,174. On schedule, you could ask to drop PMI in about 8 years 9 months.

The gap between the two is $442 a month. Part of that is the bigger loan and part is PMI, which is why a bigger down payment helps twice. These figures come from the same calculation as the tool above, with the placeholder assumptions stated here.

The words you will keep seeing

Principal
The amount you borrowed and still owe.
Interest rate
The yearly cost of borrowing the principal, as a percentage. It does not include fees.
APR
A fuller yearly cost that adds in the points, broker fees and other charges you pay to get the loan, so it is usually higher than the rate. Use it to compare offers with the same terms.
Escrow
An account your lender runs to collect and pay your property tax and home insurance, a little each month.
PMI
Private mortgage insurance. It protects the lender, usually applies under 20% down on a conventional loan, and can be removed later.
Points
Money you can pay at closing to lower your rate. One point is 1% of the loan. They only pay off if you keep the loan long enough.
Closing costs
One-time fees due when the loan is finalized: lender, appraisal, title, taxes and more. They are separate from your down payment.
Loan Estimate
The standard form that spells out a loan's terms and costs once you have asked a lender for one. Request one from several lenders to compare them side by side.

Definitions of the rate and APR follow the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: rate vs. APR, points, PMI.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is a monthly mortgage payment calculated?

The core of it is principal and interest: a fixed amount each month that pays interest on what you still owe and a little of the loan itself. Early payments are mostly interest and later ones are mostly principal. On top of that, most lenders add one-twelfth of your yearly property tax and home insurance to the payment and hold it in an escrow account. If you put down less than 20% on a conventional loan, mortgage insurance (PMI) is usually added too.

How much of my payment goes to interest?

It depends on the rate and the length of the loan. In the example above, a $320,000 loan at 7.4% over 30 years has a principal and interest payment of $2,216 a month, and total interest over the full 30 years is about $477,622. A shorter loan has a higher monthly payment but far less interest overall: the same $320,000 over 15 years at the 6.73% national average costs $2,828 a month in principal and interest.

What is PMI, and when does it go away?

Private mortgage insurance protects the lender if you stop paying. It is usually required on a conventional loan when you put down less than 20% of the price. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains that you can ask your servicer to cancel it when your balance is scheduled to fall to 80% of the home's original value, and that it must end automatically when the balance is scheduled to reach 78%, if you are current on payments. This calculator shows roughly when that happens on your numbers. FHA, USDA and VA loans have their own insurance or guarantee fees with different rules, which the calculator does not model.

Where do the tax and insurance numbers come from?

From you. The starting values (1.1% of the price a year for property tax and $1,800 a year for insurance) are round placeholders, not averages for your area or a recommendation. Your county's tax bill and a home insurance quote give the real figures, and both can change from year to year, which changes your escrow payment even on a fixed-rate loan.

Is the interest rate in the calculator a quote?

No. It is an example. For scale, Freddie Mac's weekly survey reported a national average of 7.40% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage on October 8, 2026, describing buyers with good or excellent credit who put 20% down. Your rate depends on your credit, down payment, loan type, property and lender, and changes daily. A lender's official offer is the only number that counts.

What is not included in this estimate?

Closing costs (paid once, when you buy), utilities, repairs and upkeep, flood or earthquake insurance if you need it, special assessments, and anything you pay beyond the scheduled amount. Adjustable-rate loans, interest-only loans and loans with points are also not modeled. It is a planning estimate for a standard fixed-rate loan.

What to do with the number

Once you know a payment that feels comfortable, the next step is to see what lenders actually publish about their minimums and fees, then ask a few of them for an official offer.

Compare mortgage lendersRefinance break-even calculatorHome loans overview

Reference rate: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, survey dated October 8, 2026, read on October 14, 2026 at freddiemac.com/pmms.