How much is the monthly payment on a $400,000 house?

With 20% down at 6.5% over 30 years, the loan is $320,000 and principal and interest come to $2,022.62. Adding property tax at 1.1% and $1,800 a year of insurance brings the real monthly cost to about $2,539. The gap between those two figures, roughly 25%, is why a calculator that stops at principal and interest is not answering the question you asked.

What is included in a mortgage payment?

Principal, interest, property tax and home insurance are collected together by the servicer, which is where the shorthand PITI comes from. If your deposit was under 20%, private mortgage insurance is added until you reach 20% equity. HOA dues, where they apply, are billed separately by the association but are part of what the home costs you each month.

How can I avoid paying PMI?

Put 20% down, and it is never charged. If you are already paying it, it stops automatically once the balance reaches 78% of the original purchase price, and your lender must cancel it at 80% if you ask in writing. A new appraisal showing the home has appreciated can get you there sooner, which this calculator does not model. Note that PMI is not the same as an FHA loan’s mortgage insurance premium, which often cannot be cancelled at all.

Should I take a 15-year or a 30-year mortgage?

A 15-year term carries a lower rate and costs far less interest overall, but the payment is much higher and the money is locked into the house rather than available to invest. Set the term to 180 here to see both figures. Which is better depends on what the difference would otherwise earn, which the 15-year versus 30-year comparison works out.

Does paying extra each month actually help?

Yes, and more than most people expect, because every extra dollar goes entirely to principal and stops accruing interest for the rest of the term. Enter an amount in the extra field and the payoff date and total interest both move. Whether it is the best use of that money is a different question, and the one mortgage payoff versus investing answers: a dollar on the mortgage earns a guaranteed return equal to the rate, and nothing more. If a biweekly plan is what you are considering, check what it is actually worth first.

Why is my lender’s estimate higher than this?

Usually because of costs this calculator deliberately excludes: closing costs, origination fees, discount points and prepaid escrow. It also assumes your tax and insurance figures are right, a lender uses the actual assessment and a real quote, which are often higher than a rule-of-thumb percentage. For the loan on its own, without escrow, use the loan calculator.

Is the interest tax deductible?

Only if you itemize, and most filers do not. When itemizing, mortgage interest reduces taxable income subject to limits on the loan balance. This calculator does not apply it, which makes the figures shown here the pre-tax cost. Treat any deduction as a reduction on top.

Mortgage Calculator

This mortgage calculator gives the whole monthly payment: principal, interest, property tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, not just the loan part. Quoting principal and interest alone understates a typical payment by around a fifth, which is the difference between a house being affordable and not.

Example numbers

The answerfrom an example

This home costs $2,539.29 a month, all in, not just the loan payment.

Worked on $400,000 home, 20% down, 6.50% over 30 years. Change anything below to use yours.

Loan amount: $320,000
Principal & interest: $2,022.62
Total interest: $408,141

The figures behind it

Loan amount: $320,000; 80.0% of the purchase price.
Principal & interest: $2,022.62; The part that actually repays the loan.
Total interest: $408,141; Over the life of the loan, on top of the amount borrowed.
Paid off in: 30 years; The full scheduled term.
Total cost of ownership: $914,142; Principal, interest, tax, insurance, PMI and HOA over the whole term.

Monthly payment$2,539.29

80%

14%

Principal & interestThe loan payment itself.$2,023
Property taxEscrowed and paid on your behalf.$367
Home insuranceAlso escrowed.$150

What you still owe, and what it has cost

Years from today

Balance remainingInterest paid to date

Payment scheduleShow

The table scrolls sideways

Year	Interest	Principal	Balance	Interest to date	All-in payment
1	$1,716	$307	$316,423	$20,695	$2,539
2	$1,695	$328	$312,607	$41,150	$2,539
3	$1,673	$350	$308,535	$61,349	$2,539
4	$1,650	$373	$304,191	$81,276	$2,539
5	$1,625	$398	$299,555	$100,912	$2,539
6	$1,598	$425	$294,609	$120,238	$2,539
7	$1,570	$453	$289,332	$139,232	$2,539
8	$1,539	$483	$283,701	$157,873	$2,539
9	$1,507	$516	$277,693	$176,136	$2,539
10	$1,472	$550	$271,283	$193,998	$2,539
11	$1,436	$587	$264,444	$211,430	$2,539
12	$1,396	$626	$257,146	$228,404	$2,539
13	$1,354	$668	$249,360	$244,889	$2,539
14	$1,310	$713	$241,053	$260,853	$2,539
15	$1,262	$761	$232,189	$276,260	$2,539
16	$1,211	$812	$222,731	$291,074	$2,539
17	$1,156	$866	$212,640	$305,254	$2,539
18	$1,098	$924	$201,873	$318,759	$2,539
19	$1,037	$986	$190,385	$331,542	$2,539
20	$971	$1,052	$178,128	$343,557	$2,539
21	$900	$1,123	$165,050	$354,750	$2,539
22	$825	$1,198	$151,096	$365,067	$2,539
23	$745	$1,278	$136,207	$374,450	$2,539
24	$659	$1,363	$120,321	$382,836	$2,539
25	$568	$1,455	$103,372	$390,158	$2,539
26	$470	$1,552	$85,287	$396,344	$2,539
27	$366	$1,656	$65,991	$401,320	$2,539
28	$256	$1,767	$45,403	$405,003	$2,539
29	$137	$1,885	$23,436	$407,307	$2,539
30	$11	$2,009	$0	$408,141	$2,537

What this result assumes

The schedule shows one row per year, taken from the twelfth month of each. The CSV export carries the same rows.
Property tax is held at a fixed share of the purchase price and insurance at a fixed dollar amount. Both rise over time in reality, so the later years understate the true payment.

Methodology

Reviewed August 31, 2026

What is in the payment

A conventional US mortgage payment is not one thing. The servicer collects a single debit each month and splits it five ways: principal, interest, escrowed property tax, escrowed hazard insurance, and — while you hold less than 20% equity — mortgage insurance. HOA dues are billed separately by the association rather than the lender, but they come out of the same budget, so they are shown here too and labelled as the outlier they are.

Quoting principal and interest alone is the single most common way a mortgage calculator misleads someone. On the default scenario here it understates the real monthly cost by around 20%, which is the difference between a house being affordable and not.

Lenders size your loan against the whole figure, not the P&I. The debt-to-income ratio an underwriter applies uses taxes and insurance too, which is why a pre-approval based on a P&I-only estimate tends to come in lower than expected.

The loan

The level monthly payment is the standard amortization formula, M = P × [r(1 + r)ⁿ] ÷ [(1 + r)ⁿ − 1], where P is the amount borrowed, n the term in months and r the monthly rate. US mortgages quote a nominal annual rate compounded monthly, so r is simply the annual rate divided by twelve.

At a 0% rate that formula is undefined, so the balance is divided evenly across the term instead. Interest is rounded to the cent each month, exactly as a servicer would, and the final payment absorbs whatever rounding remainder has accumulated so the balance lands on precisely zero. The test suite asserts that the principal repaid over the schedule equals the amount borrowed to the cent.

Any extra payment is applied straight to principal in the month it is made, which shortens the term rather than reducing the scheduled payment. That is how nearly every US mortgage behaves unless you specifically ask the servicer to recast the loan.

Mortgage insurance

Private mortgage insurance protects the lender, not you, and is charged when your deposit is under 20%. It is quoted as an annual percentage of the loan balance — commonly between 0.3% and 1.5%, driven mostly by your credit score and how small the deposit is — and collected monthly.

This model charges it on the outstanding balance at the start of each month and stops it once the balance falls below 80% of the original purchase price. Under the Homeowners Protection Act a lender must cancel PMI automatically at 78% of the original value and must honour a written request at 80%, so 80% is the figure a borrower who asks will actually get.

Two things are deliberately not modelled: cancellation based on a new appraisal after the home appreciates, which can end PMI years earlier, and FHA mortgage insurance, which follows different rules and often cannot be cancelled at all.

Escrow, and why the later years are understated

Property tax is calculated as a fixed percentage of the purchase price and held constant for the whole term. Real assessments move — usually upward, and in some states by a capped amount each year — so a thirty-year projection on a fixed rate understates the tax in the later years. The US median effective rate is near 1% of value, but the range across counties runs from under 0.3% to over 2%, which is why this is an input rather than a default you should trust.

Home insurance is held at the dollar figure you enter, again without escalation. Premiums have risen sharply in several states, so treat the long-run total as a floor.

Neither figure is a loan cost. If you move the mortgage — refinance it, or pay it off — the tax and insurance stay. They are included here because the question people are actually asking is what the house costs each month, not what the loan does.

Assumptions

The interest rate is fixed for the whole term. Adjustable-rate mortgages are not modelled.
Property tax is a constant share of the purchase price, and insurance a constant annual amount. Neither escalates.
Mortgage insurance is charged monthly while the balance exceeds 80% of the purchase price, then stops.
The home’s value is not projected. Appreciation, which can end PMI early on reappraisal, is ignored.
Extra payments reduce principal in the month they are made and shorten the term.
Closing costs, points, origination fees, prepayment penalties and title charges are excluded — this is the cost of holding the loan, not of getting it.
The mortgage interest deduction is not applied. Most filers take the standard deduction and get no benefit from it.
Every figure is nominal. Inflation is ignored, so the later years are overstated in real terms and understated in escrow terms.
FHA, VA and USDA loans have different insurance rules and are not modelled.

Sources

Common questions

How much is the monthly payment on a $400,000 house?: With 20% down at 6.5% over 30 years, the loan is $320,000 and principal and interest come to $2,022.62. Adding property tax at 1.1% and $1,800 a year of insurance brings the real monthly cost to about $2,539. The gap between those two figures, roughly 25%, is why a calculator that stops at principal and interest is not answering the question you asked.
What is included in a mortgage payment?: Principal, interest, property tax and home insurance are collected together by the servicer, which is where the shorthand PITI comes from. If your deposit was under 20%, private mortgage insurance is added until you reach 20% equity. HOA dues, where they apply, are billed separately by the association but are part of what the home costs you each month.
How can I avoid paying PMI?: Put 20% down, and it is never charged. If you are already paying it, it stops automatically once the balance reaches 78% of the original purchase price, and your lender must cancel it at 80% if you ask in writing. A new appraisal showing the home has appreciated can get you there sooner, which this calculator does not model. Note that PMI is not the same as an FHA loan’s mortgage insurance premium, which often cannot be cancelled at all.
Should I take a 15-year or a 30-year mortgage?: A 15-year term carries a lower rate and costs far less interest overall, but the payment is much higher and the money is locked into the house rather than available to invest. Set the term to 180 here to see both figures. Which is better depends on what the difference would otherwise earn, which the 15-year versus 30-year comparison works out.
Does paying extra each month actually help?: Yes, and more than most people expect, because every extra dollar goes entirely to principal and stops accruing interest for the rest of the term. Enter an amount in the extra field and the payoff date and total interest both move. Whether it is the best use of that money is a different question, and the one mortgage payoff versus investing answers: a dollar on the mortgage earns a guaranteed return equal to the rate, and nothing more. If a biweekly plan is what you are considering, check what it is actually worth first.
Why is my lender’s estimate higher than this?: Usually because of costs this calculator deliberately excludes: closing costs, origination fees, discount points and prepaid escrow. It also assumes your tax and insurance figures are right, a lender uses the actual assessment and a real quote, which are often higher than a rule-of-thumb percentage. For the loan on its own, without escrow, use the loan calculator.
Is the interest tax deductible?: Only if you itemize, and most filers do not. When itemizing, mortgage interest reduces taxable income subject to limits on the loan balance. This calculator does not apply it, which makes the figures shown here the pre-tax cost. Treat any deduction as a reduction on top.

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