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Home & Daily Life

Can I afford to move out?

Add up rent plus utilities and compare it to your monthly income. HUD treats housing that costs more than 30% of income, utilities included, as a cost burden, so that's a useful line to stay under.

Easy20 min to doFree

You'll need

  • Your monthly take-home pay
  • Rent listings for places you'd actually live
  • A rough guess at utilities, internet and renters insurance

Do it like this

The 30 percent lineA bar showing monthly income. Rent plus utilities fills the first 30 percent, highlighted. A mark at 30 percent: above it, HUD counts a household as cost burdened. A mark at 50 percent: above it, severely cost burdened.Monthly income30%50%Rent + utilitiesOver 30%: HUD calls it cost burdened.Over 50%: severely cost burdened.
Housing plus utilities under 30% of income leaves room for everything else.
  1. Write down your monthly take-home pay, the number that actually lands in your account.
  2. Add rent and utilities for a real listing. HUD counts housing costs over 30% of monthly income, including utilities, as a cost burden, and over 50% as a severe one (HUD).
  3. Add the up-front money: first month's rent, the security deposit, application fees and moving costs.
  4. Build a full budget with that rent in it, using the steps in consumer.gov (fixed costs, then food, transportation and the rest).
  5. If the numbers don't fit, try a cheaper area, a roommate, or a few more months of saving before you sign.
Watch out. Scammers love people in a hurry to move. A deal far below area rents plus pressure to pay fast is a red flag (FTC).

If it doesn't work

  • If rent plus utilities is over 30% of income, list two ways to close the gap (roommate, cheaper unit, more hours) before you commit.
  • If you can't cover the up-front costs yet, set a savings target for them and automate a transfer every payday.
  • If you're turned down because of something in a tenant screening report, the landlord has to tell you, and you can get a free copy of that report and dispute errors (CFPB).

Good to know

Why 30%

It's a rule of thumb, not a law. HUD uses it to measure cost burden in its housing data (HUD).

Count the irregular costs

Renters insurance, furniture, a parking spot and the first grocery run add up. Put them in the budget before you sign.

Screening reports

Landlords often use tenant screening reports. If one leads to a denial, you're entitled to know which company made it (CFPB).

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development CHAS background: cost burden definitions
  2. Federal Trade Commission Making a budget (consumer.gov)
  3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau What to do if a tenant screening report leads to a denial
  4. Federal Trade Commission Rental listing scams

Lesson H1.1 · Last checked October 2, 2026 against the sources listed. See a mistake?