How to estimate an FHA mortgage payment
An FHA payment has more layers than a conventional one. Start with the base loan, which is the home price minus your down payment. The lender adds an upfront mortgage insurance premium, which you can finance or pay in cash, and charges an annual premium in monthly pieces for as long as the rules require. Then come property tax, homeowners insurance and any association dues. This calculator keeps those layers separate so you can see what each one does.
The example is a 500,000 home with 3.5% down at an example 6% rate over 30 years. The down payment is 17,500, so the base loan is 482,500. Nothing here is a rate quote, and the page does not decide whether any loan is available: county limits, credit, income and the property all matter to a lender.
Before you enter anything, decide which question you are asking. If it is whether you can afford the payment, use the all-in monthly figure. If it is what the loan will cost, look at total interest and total premiums. If it is how much cash you need, add the down payment, the upfront premium when you pay it in cash, and closing costs. The results panel reports each of these separately, so you can answer all three without re-entering your numbers.
Upfront MIP versus annual MIP
The upfront premium is a percentage of the base loan, not of the home price. At the standard 1.75% it is 482,500 × 1.75% = 8,443.75. Some tools apply the rate to the price and show 8,750.00; HUD applies it to the base loan amount, so this page does too. If you finance the premium, the debt becomes 490,943.75 and your down payment is the only cash due at closing (17,500). If you pay it in cash, the debt stays at 482,500.00 and cash due rises to 25,943.75.
Financing the premium raises the principal and interest payment: 2,943.46 a month instead of 2,892.83. The two choices are not free or costly in isolation. Paying in cash needs more money at closing, and financing means you pay interest on the premium for years. The annual premium is separate from both and is charged monthly on top of the payment.
Sources behind the model: the premium rules come from HUD Mortgagee Letter 2023-05, and the way the monthly amount is averaged and rounded is described on HUD's premium calculation page.
The premium scales with the base loan, so each extra 10,000 you borrow adds 175 of upfront premium at the standard 1.75%. That is why a larger down payment helps twice: it shrinks the loan and the premium charged on it. Comparing the two treatments on the example, financing adds 8,443.75 to the debt and raises principal and interest by 50.62 a month, a cost that repeats until the loan ends or is repaid. Paying in cash avoids that interest but uses savings you may want for a reserve, moving costs or repairs. Neither answer is right for everyone, and the calculator lets you view both before you talk to a lender.
FHA MIP rates and duration assumptions
The preset uses the annual premium tiers for a purchase with a case number assigned after the 2023 change. The tier depends on the term, the original loan-to-value and whether the base loan is above or below a cut-off. For 2026 this page uses 832,750, the national one-unit conforming limit announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as that cut-off. It is a tier threshold in this model and not the county FHA loan limit.
| Term | Base loan | Original LTV | Annual rate | Charged for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over 15 years | At or below $832,750 | 90% or less | 0.50% | 132 months |
| Over 15 years | At or below $832,750 | Over 90% to 95% | 0.50% | Full term |
| Over 15 years | At or below $832,750 | Over 95% | 0.55% | Full term |
| Over 15 years | Above $832,750 | 90% or less | 0.70% | 132 months |
| Over 15 years | Above $832,750 | Over 90% to 95% | 0.70% | Full term |
| Over 15 years | Above $832,750 | Over 95% | 0.75% | Full term |
| 15 years or less | At or below $832,750 | 90% or less | 0.15% | 132 months |
| 15 years or less | At or below $832,750 | Over 90% | 0.40% | Full term |
| 15 years or less | Above $832,750 | 78% or less | 0.15% | 132 months |
| 15 years or less | Above $832,750 | Over 78% to 90% | 0.40% | 132 months |
| 15 years or less | Above $832,750 | Over 90% | 0.65% | Full term |
These are dated assumptions from the sources above, shown with their year so that a later year is not silently treated as current. The custom scenario option lets you test your own rate and duration (the full term, 132 months, 60 months, none, or until the scheduled balance falls to 78% of the price). Those choices are what-if scenarios, not current FHA cancellation rules, and the preset never applies an automatic 78% cancellation.
Why the monthly premium can change
The annual premium is a percentage of the average scheduled balance for the year, so it falls as the loan is paid down. In the example the premium is 219.92 a month in year one and 217.12 in year two, because the average balance has fallen from 488,210 to 482,013. Adding it to principal and interest gives 3,163.38 in month one. HUD's informed consumer guidance describes the same idea of a premium that follows a declining balance.
Duration matters as much as the rate. With 10% down the base loan is 450,000, the upfront premium is 7,875.00, the debt is 457,875.00 and principal and interest are 2,745.19. The preset charges 0.5% for 132 months, so the monthly premium starts at 186.46 and stops after payment 132, for 22,722 in total. With 3.5% down the same preset charges for the whole 360 months, for 51,234 in total. This page recomputes the premium from the original schedule, so extra payments do not change it unless the loan is paid off.
Because the premium follows the scheduled balance, it is highest in the first year and falls a little each year after that. Ask your lender to confirm the rate and the number of years that apply to your loan, since a small change in either alters the lifetime cost of the premium.
Taxes, insurance and the full housing budget
Principal and interest plus the premium is not the whole payment. With property tax at 1.2% of the price (500.00 a month) and 2,500 a year of homeowners insurance (208.33 a month), the all-in payment in month one is 3,871.71, compared with 2,943.46 for principal and interest alone. Enter your own tax and insurance quotes, and add association dues and other costs if they apply. Each cost can rise on its own yearly percentage, stepping up every 12 payments, while the loan payment stays fixed.
Lenders usually collect property tax and insurance in an escrow account, so the amount you send each month can change when a bill changes even though the loan payment does not. Compare the all-in figure with your budget rather than principal and interest alone: the gap between 2,943.46 and 3,871.71 in the example is 928.25 a month before any association dues. Lenders look at the full housing payment and your other debts together, which is why the debt-to-income calculator is a useful second check.
Extra payments, payoff and biweekly estimates
Add dated extra payments and the schedule applies them to principal, capping the final payment and stopping premiums at payoff. With 200 extra each month, the loan is paid off 55 payments sooner and saves 102,767 of interest. The premium is charged on the original scheduled balances, so the page reports it as modeled and you should confirm how your servicer treats prepayments.
The biweekly comparison is a separate illustration of principal and interest only. It uses 26 payments a year of half the monthly payment, with interest at the note rate divided by 26. It excludes mortgage insurance and escrow and is not equivalent to paying twice a month. Use it to compare conventions, not to predict what a servicer will do.
Check the assumptions before relying on any prepayment figure. Servicers apply extra money to principal only when you tell them to, and an extra payment sent without instructions may be held as an early payment instead. The premium rules follow HUD's published calculation, and a servicer's statement is the final word on what you owe.
Limitations, affordability and other FHA programs
This is a planning estimate for a fixed-rate purchase. It does not check county loan limits, credit, underwriting, property standards or old case dates, and it does not model streamline refinances, 203(k) renovation loans, special programs or adjustable rates. For a conventional comparison, compare a conventional mortgage budget; to see what price fits your income, explore a house budget; and for the cash you need at closing, plan cash needed at closing. The real estate calculators page lists the other housing tools.
FHA limits vary by county and property type, and a lender checks them for the area you are buying in. Programs such as 203(k) renovation loans, streamline refinances and loans for manufactured housing have their own rules and are not modeled here. Think of the page as a way to understand the structure of the payment, then confirm every number on a written loan estimate.
FHA calculator questions
Is the upfront premium based on the home price?
No. This model applies the selected rate to base debt before financed upfront MIP.
Does paying upfront change principal?
Financing adds the premium to debt; paying separately keeps it out of principal.
Is FHA MIP the same as PMI?
They are different insurance arrangements. Use the FHA assumptions shown here.
Does MIP stop at 78% LTV?
The purchase preset uses original LTV and term. The 78% choice is a custom scenario.
Can extra payments reduce every cost?
They can shorten repayment. Insurance rules and property costs need separate treatment.
Does this confirm eligibility?
No. A lender must check the program, property, county and borrower circumstances.
Rules and limits change, and a lender's figures decide. Ask for a loan estimate that itemizes the upfront premium, the annual premium rate and how long it applies, and compare it with this page line by line. This page does not give tax advice.
Eligible for a VA loan instead? Compare VA funding-fee assumptions to see how that loan type differs from FHA premiums.