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How Much House Can You Afford in Utah County?

Income, debts and down payment in. A price band out, using your own tax area's rate and Utah's primary-residence exemption.

Interactive Tool Rates checked October 20, 2026 Runs in your browser

Lenders decide how much they will lend by comparing all your monthly debt payments, the new house payment included, with your gross monthly income. That comparison is the debt-to-income ratio, or DTI. This calculator works it backward: tell it what you earn and owe, and it finds the highest price whose full monthly payment keeps you under the DTI limit you pick. Property tax is figured from the actual 2025 rate for the tax area you choose, on 55% of the price if you will live there.

This is an estimate for planning, not financial advice and not a loan approval. A lender's figure depends on your credit, reserves, loan program and a real rate quote.

You

Keep closing costs separate; the closing-cost estimator covers those.

The loan
Loan term

Starts at Freddie Mac's national weekly average for the term you pick (7.4% for 30 years, 6.71% for 15, as of October 15, 2026). Replace it with a lender's quote when you have one.

All three limits are from Fannie Mae's Selling Guide. A lower limit leaves more of your income for everything else.

The house

Utah County asks owners to find their tax district on the parcel's Notice of Property Valuation and Tax Changes; ask the listing agent for it on a house you are considering. Rates are the final 2025 rates from the Utah State Tax Commission, the latest year it has published; 2026 rates will differ. If you are unsure, compare a few areas in the city you are shopping.

Will you live in it?

A primary residence is taxed on 55% of market value under Utah's 45% residential exemption; anything else on 100%.

We do not guess this one. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says a conventional loan with less than 20% down may require private mortgage insurance, and the premium depends on the loan and the borrower, so use the figure from a lender's Loan Estimate.

How the math works

Your monthly income is your annual income divided by twelve. The most you can put toward housing is that figure times your DTI limit, minus the debt payments you already make. The housing payment has five parts: principal and interest on the loan, property tax, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance and HOA dues. Principal and interest use the standard fixed-rate amortization formula. Property tax is the price times 55% (for a primary residence) times your tax area's combined rate, divided by twelve. Because both the loan payment and the tax grow with the price, the calculator solves for the one price where the total payment meets your limit exactly, then shows the same answer at each of Fannie Mae's three limits so you can see the band.

Two things the calculator cannot see: what a lender will count as income (Fannie Mae's Selling Guide gives that its own chapter, B3-3), and whether a given house's tax area matches the one you picked. For those, read how to shop a mortgage lender in Utah and how Utah County property tax is assessed. If the band lands below what you are seeing listed, down payment assistance in Utah explains which programs exist and how they are structured, and rent or buy in Provo runs the other side of the decision.

Sources

Every default, rate and fee in this tool comes from one of these pages, read on the date shown. Rates and fees change; check the date before relying on a figure.

  1. Primary Mortgage Market Survey (weekly averages as of 10/15/2026: 30-year fixed 7.40%, 15-year fixed 6.71%), Freddie Mac. Checked October 20, 2026. Used for: Default interest rates.
  2. Residential Exemption, Utah County Assessor. Checked October 20, 2026. Used for: 45% primary-residence exemption (tax on 55% of market value).
  3. 2025 Tax Rates by Tax Area (Report 600), Utah State Tax Commission. Checked October 20, 2026. Used for: Combined property tax rate for every Utah County tax area.
  4. Truth in Taxation Calculator, Utah County. Checked October 20, 2026. Used for: The tax district is shown on the Notice of Property Valuation and Tax Changes.
  5. Selling Guide B3-6-02, Debt-to-Income Ratios (04/02/2025), Fannie Mae. Checked October 20, 2026. Used for: 36%, 45% and 50% total DTI limits.
  6. What is a debt-to-income ratio?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked October 20, 2026. Used for: How DTI is calculated: monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income.
  7. What is private mortgage insurance?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked October 20, 2026. Used for: Conventional loans with less than 20% down may require PMI (shown as your own input, never estimated).