PMI Calculator
What private mortgage insurance costs each month, the month you can ask for it to stop, and the month it has to stop on its own.
The address carries whatever you changed, so anyone opening it sees these numbers. Nothing is saved on our side.
Monthly PMI
$173
On a $378,000 loan at 0.55% a year. You may ask the servicer to cancel it after 8 years 2 months, and it must come off by itself after 9 years 4 months — asking is worth $2,426.
- $378,000
- 10% down
- $173
- 8 years 2 months
- 80% of original value
- 9 years 4 months
- 78%, automatic
- $19,404
- $16,979
The three dates, and only one of them is automatic
Two come from the statute and run on the original schedule. The third depends on an appraisal and the lender agreeing.
You may request
8 years 2 months
The scheduled balance reaches 80% of the original value. Your right to ask, if payments are current.
Must come off
9 years 4 months
78% of the original value. The servicer does this without being asked — 1 year 2 months after you could have asked.
On a new appraisal
2 years 11 months
At 3% a year, when 80% of the current value covers the balance. Not statutory, and an appraisal costs money.
What each down payment costs in PMI
The premium scales with the loan, and the cancellation date moves with it. This is the part of a smaller down payment people forget to price.
| Down payment | Monthly PMI | Total to 80% | vs yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3% downCancellable after 11 years 5 months | $187 | +$8,604 less in total | |
| 5% downCancellable after 10 years 7 months | $183 | +$6,247 less in total | |
| 10% downyoursCancellable after 8 years 2 months | $173 | — | |
| 15% downCancellable after 4 years 10 months | $164 | −$7,488 more in total | |
| 20% downNo PMI at all | $0 | −$16,979 more in total |
The rate shown is held constant across the rows so the comparison is about the loan size alone. In practice lenders price PMI on the down payment and credit score together, so a 3% loan usually carries a higher rate than a 15% one as well as a bigger balance.
How this calculator works
Two statutory thresholds, computed on the original amortization schedule, exactly as the servicer does it.
The monthly premium is the annual PMI rate applied to the original loan amount and divided by twelve. It is charged only when the loan exceeds 80% of the purchase price — at or below that, this calculator returns zero.
The loan is then amortized month by month and two dates are read off the schedule: the first month the balance is at or below 80% of the original value, and the first month it is at or below 78%. Under the Homeowners Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. § 4902, the first is when you may request cancellation and the second is when the servicer must terminate it without being asked.
Extra payments and appreciation are simulated separately and reported as separate dates. Neither moves the automatic termination month, because the statute ties that to the original value and the original schedule — modelling it any other way would tell you the insurance ends earlier than it does.
What is assumed
- A conventional fixed-rate loan with borrower-paid monthly PMI — not single-premium, split-premium or lender-paid.
- Payments current, no second lien, and the original value used for both thresholds.
- The PMI rate stays constant for as long as it is charged.
- Principal and interest only. No escrow, and no mid-point rule for loans longer than thirty years.
Source for the cancellation thresholds: Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, 12 U.S.C. § 4902. The 80% request right and the 78% automatic termination requirement are set in statute and have not changed; the premium rate itself is set by the insurer and is yours to supply.
A worked example
A $420,000 house with 10% down at 6.75%, and PMI quoted at 0.55% a year.
| Loan amount | $420,000 − $42,000 |
|---|---|
| Monthly premium | $378,000 × 0.55% ÷ 12 |
| Balance reaches $336,000 | 80% of the original value |
| Balance reaches $327,600 | 78% — automatic termination |
| Paid if you wait | $173.25 × 112 |
| Paid if you request at 80% | $173.25 × 98 |
| Worth asking | 14 months of premiums |
Fourteen months separate the two dates, and nothing but a letter stands between them. That gap is the practical argument for knowing the request date: the automatic one takes care of itself, so it is the only one of the two that can be lost by not paying attention. Set a reminder for month 98 — around eight years in — rather than trusting that anyone else will.
Over the whole period the insurance costs about 5% of the down payment that would have avoided it. That is the honest way to frame the 20% question: not whether PMI is a waste, but whether waiting years to save another $42,000 costs more in rent and house price than $19,404 in premiums does.
Questions people ask
No. Private mortgage insurance applies above 80% loan-to-value, and 20% down puts you at exactly 80% — not above it. The distinction matters because it is the boundary case, and a calculator that charges you PMI there is wrong. Note that a lender may still quote a higher rate at exactly 20% for other reasons; that is pricing, not mortgage insurance.
There are two dates. Under the Homeowners Protection Act you may request cancellation once the balance reaches 80% of the home's original value on the scheduled amortization, provided payments are current and there is no second lien. The servicer must terminate it automatically at 78% of the original value. Both run on the original value and the original schedule — which is why the request date arrives first and why asking is worth money.
They bring the real balance to 80% sooner, but they do not move the automatic termination date — that follows the original amortization schedule regardless of what you actually pay. So extra payments only help if you write to the servicer and request cancellation. This calculator shows both dates for that reason.
Sometimes. The statutory dates use the original value, so appreciation does not trigger them. But servicers will generally consider cancellation based on current value, usually after a couple of years of payments, on a new appraisal you pay for. It is a request, not a right, and the appraisal is typically a few hundred dollars — worth it only if the remaining premiums clearly exceed that.
No, and the difference is expensive. PMI is private insurance on a conventional loan and ends at the thresholds above. FHA charges a mortgage insurance premium under its own rules, which on most modern FHA loans runs for the life of the loan rather than cancelling at 78%. This calculator models conventional PMI only.
By the insurer, on your credit score and loan-to-value together, and it is quoted as an annual percentage of the loan amount. Rates for well-qualified borrowers commonly sit well under 1% a year and rise sharply with a lower score or a smaller down payment. Use the figure on your loan estimate rather than a typical one — the estimate is where the real number lives.
Related calculators
An estimate for conventional loans. FHA, VA and USDA loans carry their own mortgage insurance rules that this does not model. Your lender's loan estimate is the authoritative figure for your premium.