New Graduate Budget Calculator

First-job budget with student loan payments, rent, and 50/30/20 allocation on entry-level salary.

Inputs

Annual gross salary ($)

Student loan payment/mo ($)

Rent/month ($)

Effective tax rate (%)

Student loan balance ($)

Tab to move between fields

Results

Monthly take-home ($)

$3,438.00

≈ 3 smartphones

After rent & loans ($)$1,888.00

Needs budget ($)$1,719.00

Wants budget ($)$1,031.00

Savings budget ($)$688.00

Months to debt-free110

Emergency Fund Target10,314

Rent To Income Ratio35%

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your annual gross salary before taxes — not your take-home pay.
Enter your student loan balance and your current monthly student loan payment.
Enter your monthly rent and your effective tax rate (combined federal, state, and FICA) so monthly take-home can be calculated.
Review your monthly take-home pay and the 50/30/20 split into needs, wants, and savings budgets.
Check the months to debt-free at your current loan payment, the emergency fund target, and the rent-to-income ratio.

How the result changes with Annual gross salary ($)

Annual gross salary ($)	Monthly take-home ($)
50,000	$3,125.00
175,000	$10,938.00
325,000	$20,313.00
450,000	$28,125.00

What each input means

Annual gross salary ($): Your starting salary.
Student loan payment/mo ($): Monthly student loan payment.
Rent/month ($): Monthly rent or housing cost.
Effective tax rate (%): Combined federal, state, FICA tax rate.
Student loan balance ($): Total outstanding student loan balance.

What each result means

Monthly take-home ($): Monthly income after taxes.
After rent & loans ($): Remaining after rent and loan payment.
Needs budget ($): 50% of net for essentials.
Wants budget ($): 30% for discretionary.
Savings budget ($): 20% for savings and extra debt payoff.
Months to debt-free: Time to pay off student loans at current rate.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Annual gross salary ($) = 55000, Student loan payment/mo ($) = 350, Rent/month ($) = 1200, Effective tax rate (%) = 25 = 5 input(s) provided
Calculate Monthly take-home
Monthly take-home
3438 = $3,438
Calculate After rent & loans
After rent & loans = monthlyNet - fixedExpenses
1888 = $1,888
Calculate Needs budget
Needs budget
1719 = $1,719

Engine last updated August 6, 2026. Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.

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