PMI Calculator
PMI — private mortgage insurance — is what a lender charges when your down payment leaves less than 20% equity in the home. It protects the lender against a loss if you default, not you, and it sits on top of your monthly payment.
The figure most buyers miss is the total. PMI is priced on the original loan amount and stays flat while the balance falls, so it does not shrink month by month; it switches off once the loan is small enough relative to what you paid for the house.
Results update as you type.
Using this PMI calculator
PMI — private mortgage insurance — is what a conventional lender requires when your down payment leaves less than 20% equity. It insures the lender, not you, and it is charged monthly on top of principal, interest, tax and insurance.
Two things make it worth modelling properly. First, the premium is calculated on the original loan amount, so it stays flat rather than shrinking with the balance. Second, it ends on a schedule you can predict, which is why this page shows both the removal date and the total you pay while it lasts.
Filling it in
- Home price and down payment decide whether PMI applies at all. At 20% down or more the answer is zero. Below that, the loan is the remaining percentage of the price, and that loan is what the premium is priced on.
- Interest rate and loan term do not change the monthly premium, but they decide how fast the balance falls and therefore how many months of PMI you actually pay. A longer term keeps you under 20% equity for longer.
- PMI rate is the annual percentage the lender charges — commonly between 0.3% and 1.5% of the loan each year. Use 0.5% as a middle figure; your credit score and loan-to-value move it more than anything else does.
- Read the monthly figure, then the removal date, then the total. On a $360,000 loan at 0.5% the premium is only $150 a month, but five and a half years of it is roughly $10,330 — the number that should decide whether a small down payment is worth it.
- If your loan is FHA rather than conventional, treat this as an indication only. FHA charges an upfront premium plus annual MIP with its own, longer cancellation rules, and that is not PMI.
Two rules set the removal date. At 80% loan-to-value you can normally request cancellation, provided the account is current and, in many cases, an appraisal supports the value. At 79% of the original value the Homeowners Protection Act requires the lender to terminate it automatically. Start above 90% loan-to-value and you should plan around the automatic date.
This model does not know your servicer's paperwork, your credit tier, or whether the county reassessed your home. Before sending a lump sum to force PMI off early, compare that lump sum against the remaining total the calculator shows you.
How it works
Monthly PMI = original loan amount × annual PMI rate ÷ 12. Because it is priced on what you borrowed rather than the shrinking balance, the figure stays flat, and the total is simply that monthly premium multiplied by the number of months until removal.
The removal date comes from the amortisation schedule: the calculator finds the first month in which the balance falls to 80% of the purchase price, the usual point where you may request cancellation. If you started above 90% loan-to-value it targets 79% instead, which is where the Homeowners Protection Act terminates the insurance automatically.
At 20% down or more the result is zero, because conventional lending does not require mortgage insurance at 80% loan-to-value or below. FHA premiums work differently — an upfront charge plus annual MIP — so this page models conventional PMI only.
Example
$400,000 price · 10% down · 6.5% rate · 0.5% PMI rate · 25-year term
- Loan: $360,000, which is 90% loan-to-value, so PMI applies.
- Monthly PMI: $150, or $1,800 a year.
- PMI ends after about 5 yr 9 mo, when the balance reaches 80% of the purchase price.
- Total PMI while it lasts: $10,330.
- Put 20% down instead and there is no PMI at all, and the payment is $2,161 rather than $2,431.
Worked example using the figures above — an illustration, not financial advice. Your loan documents decide the real numbers.
PMI Calculator FAQ
When do I stop paying PMI?
At 80% loan-to-value you can usually request cancellation, and at 79% of the original value it must end automatically. On a $400,000 home with 10% down at 6.5% over 25 years, that is about 5 years and 9 months.
How much is PMI per month?
Typically 0.3% to 1.5% of the loan per year, priced on the original balance. At 0.5% a $360,000 loan costs $150 a month; at 1.0% the same loan costs $300.
Is PMI worth paying to buy with a smaller down payment?
Compare the whole picture: at 10% down on a $400,000 home the payment is $2,431 plus $150 of PMI, while at 20% down it is $2,161 with none — a $420 a month difference, of which the PMI portion totals about $10,330 before it ends.
Does PMI get cheaper as I pay the balance down?
No. It is set on the original loan amount and stays flat until it is removed, which is why the total matters more than the monthly figure and why a lump sum that reaches 80% loan-to-value can delete the whole line.
Is PMI the same as FHA mortgage insurance?
No. FHA charges an upfront premium plus an annual MIP, and on higher loan-to-value FHA coverage often runs for the life of the loan. This calculator models conventional PMI, so treat FHA figures as approximate.
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Last updated October 5, 2026. Every figure is an estimate produced in your browser — see the methodology and its limits.