Your actual rate, payment, and costs could be higher. Get an official Loan Estimate before choosing a loan.
VA residual income calculator for loan officers.
What's left each month after taxes, the housing payment, maintenance and utilities, debts and job costs, checked against VA's table for the region, family size and loan amount, with the 41% ratio and the 20% margin.
Your actual rate, payment, and costs could be higher. Get an official Loan Estimate before choosing a loan.
VA's figures can change; check before relying on them. 38 CFR 36.4340(c)(3), (d), (e), (g)(11) and (i) · Read October 1, 2026
Estimates from the inputs shown. Not a Loan Estimate or an offer to lend.
Inputs stay in this browser. Usage counts record the tool used and a few rounded figures, such as loan purpose, state and loan-amount band. No names, addresses or exact amounts.
Questions
How is residual income worked out?
Gross monthly income, less federal, state and local income tax, Social Security and Medicare and any other deductions, less the housing payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA dues and assessments, and maintenance and utilities), less monthly debts and job-related expenses.
The guideline comes from VA's table for the region, the family size and whether the loan is under $80,000. For families of six and seven, VA adds $75 a person under $80,000 and $80 a person at $80,000 and above. The table stops at seven.
How is the ratio worked out?
Principal, interest, taxes and insurance, plus HOA dues and assessments, plus long-term debts, divided by gross monthly income. VA's standard is 41% or less. Maintenance and utilities count toward residual income, not the ratio.
Above 41%, VA doesn't ask for the second-level review and statement of justification when residual income is at least 20% above the guideline.
What does it leave out?
VA's adjustment for active-duty applicants near a military base. Which income counts, and how: use the Qualifying Income Worksheet. Tax figures are entered, not worked out. The lender's own requirements, the AUS findings and the underwriter's decision.
These are estimates from the inputs shown, not a Loan Estimate or an offer to lend.