Starting at 7.18% in the week of Nov 5, 2026 per Freddie Mac PMMS
%
$4,400 / year
$
$
$
Used for the 28/36 affordability check
Total monthly cost
$2,684
Principal + interest + taxes + insurance + HOA
Principal & interest$2,168
Property tax$367
Home insurance$150
HOA$0
Loan summary
Down payment$80,000
Loan amount$320,000
Total interest paid$460,405
Total cost of loan$780,405
Affordability
Comfortably within the 28% front-end ratio
Housing-to-income ratio26.8%
Monthly income$10,000
Monthly housing cost$2,684
Loan amortization
$320,000 over 30 years
How your remaining balance falls and where each payment goes — principal builds equity, interest is the lender's fee.
At 7.18% a payment first puts more toward principal than interest in month 245 (year 21) — that month depends only on the rate and term, not the price. How the crossover works →
Over 30 years, a $320,000 loan accrues $460,405 in total interest. Remaining balance falls from $320,000 at closing to $0 at end of year 30. Half of the principal is paid down by year 22. Principal first exceeds interest within a payment in month 245 (year 21).
Year-by-year loan amortization for $320,000 over 30 years
Year
Remaining balance
Cumulative principal paid
Cumulative interest paid
At closing
$320,000
$0
$0
Year 1
$316,861
$3,139
$22,874
Year 2
$313,488
$6,512
$45,515
Year 3
$309,865
$10,135
$67,906
Year 4
$305,974
$14,026
$90,028
Year 5
$301,793
$18,207
$111,861
Year 6
$297,303
$22,697
$133,384
Year 7
$292,479
$27,521
$154,573
Year 8
$287,297
$32,703
$175,405
Year 9
$281,731
$38,269
$195,852
Year 10
$275,751
$44,249
$215,886
Year 11
$269,328
$50,672
$235,477
Year 12
$262,428
$57,572
$254,590
Year 13
$255,016
$64,984
$273,192
Year 14
$247,054
$72,946
$291,243
Year 15
$238,501
$81,499
$308,704
Year 16
$229,314
$90,686
$325,530
Year 17
$219,445
$100,555
$341,674
Year 18
$208,843
$111,157
$357,086
Year 19
$197,454
$122,546
$371,711
Year 20
$185,221
$134,779
$385,491
Year 21
$172,079
$147,921
$398,363
Year 22
$157,962
$162,038
$410,259
Year 23
$142,798
$177,202
$421,108
Year 24
$126,508
$193,492
$430,832
Year 25
$109,010
$210,990
$439,347
Year 26
$90,212
$229,788
$446,563
Year 27
$70,020
$249,980
$452,385
Year 28
$48,330
$271,670
$456,708
Year 29
$25,029
$294,971
$459,421
Year 30
$0
$320,000
$460,405
Principal paidInterest paidRemaining balance
What this calculator doesn't show
Two homes priced identically can carry wildly different monthly costs depending on which Sun Belt state they sit in. These are the factors that move the dial most across our 12 metros.
Property tax
Effective rates vary 3.6× across our 12 metros
Houston has the highest effective rate of the 12 metros and Phoenix the lowest. Texas has no state income tax, and its property tax is the trade-off.
Houston, TX
1.45%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
1.44%
Austin, TX
1.43%
San Antonio, TX
1.41%
Atlanta, GA
0.81%
Jacksonville, FL
0.75%
Orlando, FL
0.74%
Tampa, FL
0.74%
Raleigh, NC
0.66%
Charlotte, NC
0.64%
Nashville, TN
0.48%
Phoenix, AZ
0.40%
Census ACS 2024 1-year estimates · median real-estate tax paid ÷ median home value, for the metro area. These are effective rates — the share of market value actually paid. Texas nominal rates are higher (commonly 2.0–2.5% combined) before the homestead exemption is applied, so compare like for like. High local school M&O rates push some TX counties above the metro figure.
Homeowners insurance
Florida pays about 4× what Arizona pays
Insurify, Home Insurance Price Projections, Mar 2026: Florida averages $8,458 a year for a typical policy. By state, in the same 2026 projection:
Florida
$8,458
Texas
$4,529
Georgia
$3,167
Tennessee
$3,094
North Carolina
$3,075
Arizona
$2,142
Quoted-rate projections for 2026. The NAIC's average premium actually paid in 2022 was $2,677 in Florida: quoted and paid premiums differ by method and by the years of increases between them.
FL Citizens is the state-run insurer of last resort. As of January 2026, Citizens policyholders with $400k+ homes must also carry flood insurance.
TX windstorm: 14 coastal counties may need a separate TWIA wind-and-hail policy on top of standard homeowners.
Hurricane deductible: in FL, TX, and coastal NC this is a separate percentage deductible (typically 2–10% of dwelling coverage) that only applies during a named storm.
State income tax
Three of six states levy no income tax
That free cash flow can absorb a lot of mortgage payment — most meaningful in Texas, where high property tax eats some of the advantage back. 8 of our 12 metros sit in states with no tax on wages.
Florida, Texas, Tennessee
None
Arizona
2.5% flat
North Carolina
3.99% flat
Georgia
4.99% flat
Tax year 2026 rates on wage income, from each state's revenue department. Arizona: Flat rate since tax year 2023. North Carolina: Scheduled flat rate for tax years after 2025 (4.25% in 2025, 4.5% in 2024). Georgia: HB 463 (signed 2026-05-11) cut the flat rate from 5.19% to 4.99%, retroactive to 2026-01-01.
Homestead protections
Texas and Florida cap how fast your tax bill can grow
Both protections only kick in once you claim homestead status on a primary residence — which means the first-year tax estimate from any calculator can overstate what a long-time owner actually pays.
Florida — Save Our Homes: assessed-value increases capped at 3% (or CPI, whichever is lower; 2.7% for 2026). Up to $50k in exemptions, and up to $500k of accumulated benefit is portable to a new FL home.
Texas — School exemption: $140,000 off taxable value for school district taxes, plus a 10% annual cap on assessed-value growth. Senior or disabled homeowners get an additional $60,000. The increase from $100,000 was approved by voters in November 2025 and applies retroactively to the 2025 tax year.
NC, GA, AZ, TN: only standard exemptions — no equivalent assessed-value cap.
Special district fees
The line item nobody flags in new-construction Florida and Texas
Newer master-planned communities in FL and TX often sit inside a special district that finances roads, water, and amenities through bonds — repaid by an annual fee on top of property tax. These don't appear anywhere in a standard tax estimate.
Florida — CDD
Community Development District. $1,000–$3,000/year typical; Tampa-area communities can run $4,000+. Bonds last 20–30 years.
Texas — MUD / PID
Municipal Utility / Public Improvement District.$1,000–$4,000+/year typical. Bonds last 20–40 years. Often invisible until the closing disclosure.
Tip: drop a CDD/MUD estimate into the calculator's “HOA (monthly)” field as a rough proxy until you have the actual figure for a specific community.
Property-tax rates are Census ACS 2024 metro-area figures; insurance premiums are Insurify's 2026 projections and NAIC 2022 data (via the Insurance Information Institute); income-tax rates are the tax-year 2026 state rates. Homestead and special-district figures are as of early 2026, from the Florida Department of Revenue, the Texas Comptroller, TWIA and Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, and describe typical cases — your specific county, ZIP, and home age can swing the numbers materially. Confirm specifics with a local lender, insurance broker, and tax assessor.
How the calculations work
Principal & interest uses the standard amortisation formulaM = P · r(1+r)n / ((1+r)n−1)where P is the loan amount, r is the monthly rate, and n is the number of monthly payments.
Affordability rule: lenders typically look for a front-end ratio (housing cost ÷ gross income) at or below 28%, and a back-end ratio (total debt ÷ gross income) at or below 36%. This calculator checks the front-end ratio only; you would layer on other debt payments for a full underwriting view.
Mortgage insurance: below 20% down, borrower-paid PMI is estimated as a flat annual rate on the original loan (default 0.5%, inside Freddie Mac's $30–$70 per month per $100,000 guidance) and runs until the scheduled balance reaches 78% of the purchase price — the automatic cutoff under the Homeowners Protection Act. You can ask to cancel at 80%, and appreciation can bring that forward with an appraisal. FHA loans use a different premium schedule and are not modelled.
The same arithmetic, explained: every formula here is shared with our guide The Crossover Year, which walks through where each payment goes and puts the numbers on the 12 metros.
Not financial advice. Actual rates, taxes, and insurance vary by lender, market, and property. Use this as a first-pass estimate and confirm specific figures with a lender and insurance broker.
Put the numbers in context
Home prices, rents, property tax, and insurance vary widely across the 12 Sun Belt metros we track — check the market data before you settle on a price assumption.