The other half of the answer

Income tells you what you can carry. It does not tell you whether a lender will say yes — and that varies more than almost anyone realises.

1.8% – 78.7%
the range across the 100 largest FHA lenders in 2025 · national average 22.1%

And it is not simply who applies where: standardizing on state, loan amount, income, debt-to-income and loan-to-value, applicant mix explains only a 2.7× range in expected outcomes.

The record here → Which lenders approve most → Apply to more than one? →

CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc. Covers the highest-volume lenders published per market, not all lenders. Rates reflect applicant mix as well as lender practice — historical observations, not predictions. CC BY 4.0, not independently reproduced.