What is the 30% rent rule?

The 30% rule says housing should cost no more than 30% of your gross income. The tool multiplies your gross monthly income by 0.30 to find your maximum comfortable rent. Spending more than that is considered cost-burdened and leaves less room for savings, transport, and other essentials.

What is the median rent in Sacramento?

The median one-bedroom rent in Sacramento is around $1,500 a month, with studios a little lower and two-bedrooms higher. The tool uses $1,500 as the default listing so you can immediately see what income a typical Sacramento one-bedroom requires under the 30% rule.

How much income do Sacramento landlords require?

Many Sacramento landlords require tenants to earn about three times the monthly rent in gross income. The tool calculates that 3x figure for the rent you enter, so you can check whether you meet a common screening threshold before applying.

Is the 30% rule strict?

It is a guideline, not a hard limit. In a higher-cost area you might stretch toward 35% if you have low debt and other expenses, or stay under 30% to save aggressively. The tool reports your exact rent-to-income ratio so you can judge how far a listing sits from the 30% benchmark.

Should I use gross or net income?

The 30% rule and most landlord screening use gross income, which is your pay before taxes and deductions. This calculator uses gross income for both the affordability check and the 3x landlord requirement, matching how rental applications are typically evaluated in Sacramento.

Sacramento Rent Affordability Calculator

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The Sacramento Rent Affordability Calculator tells you, in one glance, whether a rental fits your budget using the standard 30%-of-income rule and Sacramento’s local rent norms. It is for renters comparing listings, people moving to Sacramento, and anyone who wants to know the income a typical unit requires. Enter your income, and the tool returns your maximum affordable rent, a clear affordable / stretch verdict for the listing, and the 3x gross income most Sacramento landlords expect.

How it works

The 30% rule caps housing at 30% of gross income:

max affordable rent = gross monthly income x 0.30
rent-to-income ratio = monthly rent / gross monthly income

If the rent you enter is at or below your max, it is affordable; above it, you are cost-burdened. The tool also computes the income landlords typically require — about three times the monthly rent — so you can check a common screening threshold. Sacramento’s median one-bedroom rent of about $1,500 is the default listing, which under the 30% rule needs roughly $5,000/month (about $60,000/year) of gross income.

Affordable rent = 30% of gross income; landlords usually want income ≥ 3× rent.

Tips and example

With a gross income of $5,500/month, your 30% ceiling is $1,650, so a typical $1,500 Sacramento one-bedroom is comfortably affordable and your rent-to-income ratio is about 27%. That same listing requires roughly $4,500/month to pass a 3x landlord screen, which you clear. If your income were $4,000/month, the $1,500 unit would be 38% of income — over the benchmark — and the tool flags it as a stretch. Everything recalculates instantly in your browser, and nothing you enter is uploaded or stored.