Can I afford a home making $100,000 a year?

The math on a $100,000 salary

$100,000/year is $8,333/month gross. The classic 28% front-end guideline gives you ~$2,333/month in PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance — the four pieces that make up a full monthly house payment, not just the loan itself), which supports a home in the $350K–$415K range at a 6.75% 30-year rate with 5% down. Push to FHA (Federal Housing Administration loan — a government-backed loan built for buyers with lower credit scores or smaller down payments)'s 56.9% back-end DTI (debt-to-income ratio — how a lender measures your monthly bills as a percentage of your monthly income before taxes) ceiling with modest existing debt and the max price climbs to $475K–$545K.

$100K is the income where conventional loans usually pull ahead: PMI (private mortgage insurance — an extra monthly fee on conventional loans when you put down less than 20%; it protects the lender, not you, and can usually be removed later) at the 5%–10% down tier is cheaper than FHA MIP (mortgage insurance premium — the FHA version of mortgage insurance — an upfront fee plus a monthly fee added to your payment), and once you cross 20% down PMI disappears entirely. If you're sitting on 20%+ down at $100K, a conventional 30-year is almost always the right call.

The rate-vs-price tradeoff at $100K

At $100K, the market opens up enough that many buyers overshoot. A common mistake: qualifying for $525K and then buying at $525K. That leaves no room for property-tax reassessments, insurance premium hikes (especially in Florida, California wildfire zones, and Colorado hail country), or interest-rate resets on ARMs.

A smarter frame: target 30%–32% of gross for full PITI ($2,500–$2,700). That preserves retirement contributions, a real emergency fund, and the freedom to job-change without stress. Buyers who buy at 40%+ of gross are the ones we see refinancing or listing within 3 years.

Best loan program on $100K

Conventional 5%–20% down is the default. With a 740+ FICO (FICO credit score — the 300–850 credit score most mortgage lenders actually pull, which is often different from the score in a free credit app), your PMI is minimal and drops off automatically at 78% LTV (loan-to-value — how much you are borrowing compared to what the home is worth — put 10% down and your loan-to-value is 90%).

FHA still makes sense if you're stretching DTI or your credit is 620–700 — the DTI headroom is worth the MIP cost.

VA (Department of Veterans Affairs loan — a loan for eligible veterans, active-duty service members, and some surviving spouses, usually with no down payment) always wins if you're eligible; use it.

USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture loan — a no-down-payment loan for homes in eligible rural and small-town areas, with income limits) is worth checking rather than assuming. Eligibility is based on adjusted household income against a county- and household-size-specific limit, not on your salary alone — in many counties the limit for a family of four is well above $100,000, and deductions for dependents and childcare lower the income that's counted. Check your address and household size before ruling it out.

Jumbo kicks in above your county's conforming limit (usually $806,500 in 2026). At $100K you're not typically in jumbo territory unless you're in California, NYC metro, or a similar high-cost area.