Calculate if your rent is affordable using the Australian 30% rule rental stress threshold.
Enter take-home income and the rent amount with their frequencies, then calculate the income share used by rent and the rental-stress guide.
Affordable rent is personal and depends on debts, dependants, transport and other fixed costs.
This rent affordability calculator uses the standard rule of thumb that housing costs — rent plus utilities — should not exceed 30% of your gross income. It helps you work out the maximum weekly or monthly rent you can comfortably afford based on what you earn, and compare that to actual rental listings in your area.
In Australia, households spending more than 30% of gross income on housing are considered to be under "housing stress" — a threshold used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation. In major cities like Sydney and Melbourne, many renters exceed this threshold due to high rents relative to wages. If your target rent exceeds 30% of income, consider whether there is room to increase income, reduce other expenses, or look at suburbs further from the CBD where rents are lower.
The 30% rule states you should spend no more than 30% of your gross (pre-tax) income on housing costs including rent and utilities. It is a widely used guideline in Australia and the US. However, it is a starting point, not a strict rule — higher earners can often afford more than 30% comfortably, while lower earners may need to stay well under 30% to cover all other living expenses.