I think online calculators do a pretty good job giving you an idea of a ballpark number.

But here are all of the mechanics of what goes into your mortgage payment, and how to figure it out on your own.

Your mortgage loan has several parts to the payment:

  • Principal and Interest (often referred to as P/I)

  • Property Taxes

  • Homeowners insurance

  • Mortgage insurance

  • Down payment assistance payment (if utilizing)

Determine loan amount (how much are you putting down)

As a first time buyer, two common choices you could go with for a minimum down payment are:

3% Conventional Mortgage

3.5% FHA Mortgage

On a Conventional Mortgage, you'd by paying $15,000 as a down payment and the loan amount would be $485,000

On an FHA Mortgage, the loan amount is determined a little differently. The down payment is $17,500. You'd think the loan amount would be $482,500 right?

Well let me introduce you to UFMIP

It's a fee that gets tacked onto the loan balance.

It's 1.75% of the loan balance.

So $8,443.75 + $482,500 = $490,943.75

So that is your loan balance on an FHA loan.

What are rates at?

Use mortgage news daily's site to find the average rates without buydown points.

https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com

Conventional Mortgage rates on 11/26/25 are at 6.22% on 30 years

FHA rates for the same date are at 5.85% on 30 years

Principal and interest

Now that we know the interest rate, the loan amount, and the term, we can plug that in to a loan calculator and determine the principal and interest portion of your payment.

Conventional = $2,976.77

FHA = $2,896.28

Property taxes

Property taxes will vary from property to property. The lender wants to make sure you pay it, so they'll include it in the mortgage payment.

This is a part of your "escrow payment"

When the lender manages your property taxes through escrow (third party custody) then you won't have to worry about paying it.

You can typically find the property tax bill on Zillow, just below the price history chart.

Take that property tax bill (annual) and divide it by twelve.

That gives you a general idea of the payment.

Just remember that Zillow can be wrong. The previous owner might have tax exemptions that you might not get (like how military veterans with a disability rating will usually receive a form of property tax exemption)

I'm going to use this chart, but this is just a general chart from state to state. Each property will vary

StateAnnualMonthly tax
Alabama$1,795$150
Alaska$4,535$378
Arizona$2,210$184
Arkansas$2,670$222
California$3,495$291
Colorado$2,500$208
Connecticut$7,425$619
Delaware$2,515$210
Florida$3,690$308
Georgia$3,850$321
Hawaii$1,590$132
Idaho$2,385$199
Illinois$9,125$760
Indiana$3,845$320
Iowa$6,175$515
Kansas$5,970$498
Kentucky$3,625$302
Louisiana$2,765$230
Maine$4,675$390
Maryland$4,500$375
Massachusetts$4,875$406
Michigan$5,740$478
Minnesota$4,935$411
Mississippi$2,875$240
Missouri$4,390$366
Montana$3,020$252
Nebraska$7,175$598
Nevada$2,455$205
New Hampshire$7,065$589
New Jersey$8,865$739
New Mexico$3,045$254
New York$6,315$526
North Carolina$3,115$260
North Dakota$4,680$390
Ohio$6,530$544
Oklahoma$3,860$322
Oregon$3,910$326
Pennsylvania$5,950$496
Rhode Island$5,260$438
South Carolina$2,355$196
South Dakota$4,925$410
Tennessee$2,440$203
Texas$6,780$565
Utah$2,365$197
Vermont$7,085$590
Virginia$3,835$320
Washington$3,745$312
West Virginia$2,380$198
Wisconsin$6,270$522
Wyoming$2,745$229

Let's pretend that we are in California with $291 per month

Homeowners insurance

Homeowners insurance can vary state to state, and property to property.

Lenders want to make sure the house is protecting against hazard (like fire and earthquake) and they'll force you to pay the insurance through escrow.

Here's a chart

State/mth HOI (est)
AL$213
AK$135
AZ$177
AR$255
CA$124
CO$213
CT$156
DE$135
FL$354
GA$266
HI$89
ID$145
IL$184
IN$174
IA$166
KS$280
KY$223
LA$567
ME$138
MD$149
MA$184
MI$216
MN$202
MS$315
MO$255
MT$198
NE$237
NV$166
NH$124
NJ$174
NM$216
NY$170
NC$237
ND$174
OH$170
OK$503
OR$138
PA$159
RI$213
SC$298
SD$184
TN$259
TX$567
UT$145
VT$135
VA$156
WA$135
WV$184
WI$152
WY$195

Okay so far we have a California purchase for $500k with the minimum down payment

Conventional: $2,976.77 (P/I) + $291 Property tax + $124 HOI

FHA: $2,896.28 (P/I) + $291 Property tax + $124 HOI

Mortgage insurance

Mortgage insurance is different from homeowners insurance.

Mortgage insurance protects the lender if you default on your loan.

This is only charged to you if you have less than a 20% down payment on your purchase.

FHA has a flat mortgage insurance rate of 0.55% when applying the minimum down payment

Conventional has a lot of factors that influence your mortgage insurance rate. (here's a post on how to get the lowest mortgage insurance rates)

For now we'll use a factor of 0.25% but keep in mind that this can change.

Conventional: $485,000 x .0025 รท 12 = $101.04

FHA: $490,943.75 x .0055 = $225.01

Alright here is our running total

Conventional: $2,976.77 (P/I) + $291 Property tax + $124 HOI + $101.04 = $3,492.81

FHA: $2,896.28 (P/I) + $291 Property tax + $124 HOI + $225.01 = $3,536.29

This is where we can usually stop. But I'll keep going to try to cover EVERYTHING

HOA

Homeowners association dues are owed separate from the mortgage.

Just keep this in mind as you review your monthly payments. Your HOA fee will be considered by underwriting as part of your housing payment. Not your mortgage payment.

You can find this one directly on the listing.

Down payment assistance payment

If you need or use down payment assistance, it might come in the form of a second mortgage with interest and a monthly payment.

Here's a guide to all of the local down payment assistance programs for all 50 states.

If it's a repayable second mortgage with interest, you do a simple P/I calculation.

Some offer terms of 10 years, or up to 30 years.

The interest rate is commonly 1% higher than the first mortgage (programs vary)

So let's say it's $15,000 on a 10 year term at 7.2%

That payment would land at $175.71

Estimates on a mortgage payment for all 50 states

So we walked through California, here's a chart with total mortgage payment estimates for all 50 states.

I'll do Conventional, without down payment assistance and without HOA. Just P/I + HOI + Property tax + Mortgage Insurance

StateTotal Estimated Payment
AL$3,441
AK$3,591
AZ$3,439
AR$3,555
CA$3,493
CO$3,499
CT$3,853
DE$3,423
FL$3,740
GA$3,665
HI$3,299
ID$3,422
IL$4,022
IN$3,572
IA$3,759
KS$3,856
KY$3,603
LA$3,875
ME$3,606
MD$3,602
MA$3,668
MI$3,772
MN$3,691
MS$3,633
MO$3,699
MT$3,528
NE$3,913
NV$3,449
NH$3,791
NJ$3,991
NM$3,548
NY$3,774
NC$3,575
ND$3,642
OH$3,792
OK$3,903
OR$3,542
PA$3,733
RI$3,729
SC$3,572
SD$3,672
TN$3,540
TX$4,210
UT$3,420
VT$3,803
VA$3,554
WA$3,525
WV$3,460
WI$3,752
WY$3,502

I hope this helps!

Sam