Answer: Enter the amount, rate, and term and the FHA Loan Calculator returns your exact periodic payment with a full amortization breakdown of principal versus interest.
Your full FHA payment with upfront and annual mortgage insurance included
| Base Loan Amount | Term | LTV | Annual MIP | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ $726,200 | Over 15 years | ≤ 90% | 0.50% | 11 years |
| ≤ $726,200 | Over 15 years | 90.01% – 95% | 0.50% | Life of loan |
| ≤ $726,200 | Over 15 years | Over 95% | 0.55% | Life of loan |
| ≤ $726,200 | 15 years or less | ≤ 90% | 0.15% | 11 years |
| ≤ $726,200 | 15 years or less | Over 90% | 0.40% | Life of loan |
| Over $726,200 | Over 15 years | ≤ 90% | 0.70% | 11 years |
| Over $726,200 | Over 15 years | 90.01% – 95% | 0.70% | Life of loan |
| Over $726,200 | Over 15 years | Over 95% | 0.75% | Life of loan |
| Over $726,200 | 15 years or less | ≤ 90% | 0.15% | 11 years |
| Over $726,200 | 15 years or less | Over 90% | 0.65% | Life of loan |
Upfront MIP is a separate 1.75% of the base loan on every FHA purchase loan, regardless of term or LTV. These rates have held steady since the March 2023 cut to annual MIP, and the $726,200 high-balance threshold hasn't moved with it.
| Area Type | 2026 Limit (1-unit) |
|---|---|
| Standard counties (floor) | $541,287 |
| High-cost areas (ceiling) | $1,249,125 |
Limits reset each year off the conforming baseline (floor 65%, ceiling 150%); most counties sit at the floor while expensive metros run up to the ceiling. Check your county's exact figure on HUD's lookup tool before house hunting.
An FHA loan is a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which is why lenders accept down payments as small as 3.5% and credit scores as low as 580. The trade-off is mortgage insurance, and FHA charges it twice: an upfront premium (UFMIP) of 1.75% that gets rolled into your loan, and an annual premium (MIP) split across your monthly payments. Generic mortgage calculators skip both, which is why their FHA estimates run low. This one includes them.
Base loan = home price − down payment. UFMIP = 1.75% of the base loan, financed, so your total loan = base × 1.0175. Principal and interest comes from the standard amortization formula on that total: M = P × (r/12) ÷ (1 − (1 + r/12)−n). Monthly MIP = base loan × your annual MIP rate ÷ 12, where the rate comes from the schedule above based on your term and loan-to-value ratio. Add property tax and insurance divided by 12 and you have the real monthly number.
Enter the home price and your down payment as either a percentage or a dollar amount; the two fields stay in sync. Pick your rate and term, and adjust the tax and insurance estimates if you know your local figures. Results update as you type. Keep an eye on the MIP duration box: it tells you whether your mortgage insurance ends after 11 years or sticks around for the life of the loan.
Take a $350,000 home with the minimum 3.5% down ($12,250). The base loan is $337,750, UFMIP adds $5,911, and the total loan lands at $343,661. At 6.5% over 30 years, principal and interest comes to $2,172 a month. The LTV is 96.5%, which puts the annual MIP at 0.55%, or $155 a month, and because that LTV is above 90%, the MIP lasts for the life of the loan. Add $292 in property tax and $125 in insurance, and the full payment is about $2,744 a month.
The monthly MIP looks small next to principal and interest, and that's the point — it compounds quietly. Run the same $350,000 purchase two ways and the down-payment decision writes a very different insurance ledger:
| Down payment | Base loan | Annual MIP rate | Monthly MIP | MIP runs for | Total annual MIP paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5% ($12,250) | $337,750 | 0.55% | $155 | 30 years (life of loan) | ~$55,700 |
| 10% ($35,000) | $315,000 | 0.50% | $131 | 11 years, then cancels | ~$17,300 |
Add the 1.75% upfront premium — $5,911 financed in the first case, $5,513 in the second — and the 3.5%-down borrower pays roughly $61,600 of mortgage insurance to buy the same house. That's not an argument against FHA: if $35,000 of cash were available, the question wouldn't arise. It's the reason the refinance-to-conventional escape hatch matters so much once equity builds. Skip five years of $155 payments by refinancing at the right moment and you keep $9,300. The PMI comparison is worth a look too — conventional private mortgage insurance cancels at 20% equity automatically, which is the single biggest structural difference between the two products.
The FHA minimum is 580 for the 3.5% down payment. Scores from 500 to 579 can still qualify, but you'll need 10% down instead. Individual lenders often set their own floors, commonly 600 to 620, so shopping around matters if your score sits near the cutoff.
Only sometimes. If you put at least 10% down, annual MIP drops off automatically after 11 years. Put down less than 10% and MIP lasts for the life of the loan. The common escape route is refinancing into a conventional loan once you've built about 20% equity, which ends the FHA insurance entirely.
It depends on your credit and down payment. FHA wins for scores below roughly 680 and small down payments, since its rates don't punish weaker credit the way conventional pricing does. With good credit and 5% or more down, conventional usually costs less because PMI cancels at 20% equity while FHA MIP often doesn't.
Partially, and only in one situation: refinancing into another FHA loan within three years. The refund starts at about 80% of what you paid and shrinks by two percentage points each month. Sell the home or refinance into a conventional loan and there's no refund at all.
For a single-family home, the 2026 floor is $541,287 in most counties and the ceiling is $1,249,125 in high-cost areas like much of California and the New York metro. Your county's exact limit sits somewhere between the two. Loans above the local limit have to go conventional or jumbo.
3.5% with a credit score of 580 or higher. Between 500 and 579 the minimum jumps to 10%. On a $350,000 home that's the difference between $12,250 and $35,000 at closing — and lenders often overlay stricter floors (600–620) than the FHA minimums.
On a $337,750 base loan with 3.5% down, annual MIP at 0.55% runs $1,858 a year — about $55,700 over a full 30 years if you never refinance out. Put 10% down instead and the rate drops to 0.50% and cancels after 11 years, cutting the total to roughly $17,300. The 1.75% upfront premium ($5,911 here) rides on top either way.