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30-Year Fixed Mortgage Calculator
A 30-year fixed mortgage spreads a home loan over 360 equal monthly payments. The long term keeps each payment lower than on a shorter loan. The cost is more interest paid over the years.
The page starts with a $320,000 loan at 6.5 percent. Type in your own loan to see its payment and its year-by-year balance.
How the payment is worked out
Here is the formula in plain words. The payment equals the loan times the monthly rate over one minus a discount factor. The discount factor is one divided by one plus the monthly rate, multiplied out 360 times. With 6.5 percent a year the monthly rate is 0.5417 percent. The loan here is $320,000.
Worked example
On $320,000 at 6.5 percent for 30 years the payment is $2,022.62 a month. You would repay $728,142 in total. Interest accounts for $408,142 of that.
The same loan over 20 years costs $2,385.83 a month and $252,600 in interest. Over 15 years it costs $2,787.54 a month and $181,758 in interest. The longer the term the lower the payment but the higher the total cost.
Questions about this calculator
How much of the first $2,022.62 payment is interest?
$1,733.33 is interest and $289.28 reduces the balance. The balance falls slowly at first because interest is charged on the whole $320,000.
What does a 30-year term save each month compared with 15 years?
On the example it saves $764.93 a month. The saving comes at the price of $226,385 more interest over the life of the loan.
Is the rate fixed for all 30 years?
On a fixed-rate loan, yes. The principal and interest part of the payment never changes. Other parts of the housing bill, such as property tax, can change.
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This page is for education only and is not financial or tax advice.