📊 Mortgage Payment Calculator · 2026
$200,000 Mortgage
at 6.5% Interest Rate
6.5% is near the historical average
Monthly payment, 15 vs 30 year comparison, total interest, and what salary you need to qualify.
Monthly P&I Payment · 6.5% · 30-Year · 20% Down
$1,011
Loan amount: $160,000 · Down payment: $40,000
$363,960
Total Paid (30yr)
15-Year vs 30-Year at 6.5%
30-Year Fixed
$1,011/mo
Total: $363,960
Interest: $203,960
15-Year Fixed
$1,394/mo
Total: $250,920
Save: $113,040 in interest
How 6.5% Compares to Other Rates
Data Table
| Rate | Monthly Payment | Total Interest (30yr) | vs 6.5% |
| 5.5% | $908/mo | $167,046 | $36,914 less |
| 6.0% | $959/mo | $185,341 | $18,619 less |
| → 6.5% | $1,011/mo | $204,071 | ← You are here |
Banker's Take on 6.5%
This rate is close to the 30-year historical average. Not a crisis, not a bargain. At 6.5%, your monthly payment on a $200K home is $1,011. Over 30 years, you'll pay the bank $203,960 in interest alone — 127% of what you borrowed.
To qualify, most lenders want your total monthly debt (including this payment) to stay under 43% of your gross monthly income. That means earning at least $43K/year with no other significant debt.
See Your Full Mortgage Picture
Amortization table, all-in cost, lender comparison
Open Calculator →
The part almost nobody publishes free
Prices and rates are widely reported. Whether a lender says yes is not. In the complete 2025 federal record, denial rates across the 100 largest FHA lenders ran from 1.8% to 78.7% — same programme, same year.
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.
CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc. Covers the highest-volume lenders published per market, not all lenders. Historical observations, not predictions. CC BY 4.0, not independently reproduced.
The Denial Dispatch
One finding a week from the federal mortgage record.
One chart, three paragraphs, every Saturday. Measured, not assumed.
Get the Dispatch →