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What does mortgage insurance cost?

See what private mortgage insurance adds to your payment, how long you pay it, and the month you can ask to cancel it.

Your numbers

Freddie Mac: about $30 to $70 a month per $100,000 borrowed (0.36% to 0.84% a year).
An example rate, not today’s rate. Use the rate your lender quotes.
PMI a month
$150.00

On a $400,000.00 home with $40,000.00 down, PMI at 0.5% a year costs $150.00 a month for 109 months.

PMI a year
$1,800.00
Months of PMI
109
Total PMI
$16,350.00
Can ask to cancel after payment
95
Can ask to cancel from
August 2034
Last PMI payment
October 2035
Loan-to-value
90%
Principal and interest
$2,275.44
Payment with PMI
$2,425.44
Months
109

Answer for the example date Wednesday, September 30, 2026. It changes to today's date when the page loads.

PMI a month: $150.00. On a $400,000.00 home with $40,000.00 down, PMI at 0.5% a year costs $150.00 a month for 109 months.

When does the balance reach 78% of the value?

Which payments include PMI?

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Computes the monthly private mortgage insurance on a conventional loan from its yearly rate, and when it can be cancelled at 80% and ends by law at 78% of the home’s original value.

Example with the default inputs (Home price $400,000.00, Down payment $40,000.00, PMI rate (per year) 0.5%, Interest rate 6.5%, Loan term (years) 30, Loan start date September 30, 2026) on the example date Wednesday, September 30, 2026: On a $400,000.00 home with $40,000.00 down, PMI at 0.5% a year costs $150.00 a month for 109 months.

Method: PMI a month = yearly rate × loan ÷ 12; it ends with the payment that brings the scheduled balance to 78% of the original value, and never after payment n ÷ 2; you may ask to cancel at 80%.

  • The loan is a conventional fixed-rate loan with borrower-paid PMI charged monthly as a yearly percent of the original loan.
  • The original value is the price (or the appraised value, if lower). Dates follow the original schedule, with no extra payments.
  • The Homeowners Protection Act 78% and midpoint rules apply; you are current on payments.
  • FHA and VA loans have their own rules; see the FHA and VA loan calculators.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Home price $300,000.00, Down payment $30,000.00, PMI rate (per year) 0.5%, Interest rate 7%, Loan term (years) 30 gives PMI a month $112.50, PMI a year $1,350.00, Months of PMI 115, Total PMI $12,937.50, Can ask to cancel after payment 101, Loan-to-value 90%.
  2. Home price $400,000.00, Down payment $40,000.00, PMI rate (per year) 0.5%, Interest rate 6.5%, Loan term (years) 30, Loan start date 2026-10-01 gives PMI a month $150.00, Months of PMI 109, Total PMI $16,350.00, Can ask to cancel after payment 95, Can ask to cancel from 2034-09-01, Last PMI payment 2035-11-01.
  3. Home price $100,000.00, Down payment $5,000.00, PMI rate (per year) 1%, Interest rate 12%, Loan term (years) 30 gives PMI a month $79.17, Months of PMI 180, Total PMI $14,250.00.Source: Homeowners Protection Act midpoint rule: at 12% the balance is still above 78% at month 180, so PMI ends at the midpoint
  4. Home price $400,000.00, Down payment $80,000.00, PMI rate (per year) 0.5%, Interest rate 6.5%, Loan term (years) 30 gives PMI a month $0.00, Months of PMI 0, Total PMI $0.00, Note With 20% or more down, a conventional loan needs no PMI..Source: CFPB: PMI is usually required with less than 20% down

How it works

Write V for the home price (the original value), D for the down payment, q for the yearly PMI rate in percent, r for the yearly interest rate ÷ 1200 (the monthly rate as a decimal), and n for the months (years × 12). The loan is L = V − D, which must be more than 0, and the loan-to-value (LTV) is L × 100 ÷ V.

  1. No PMI at 80% LTV or less. If the LTV is 80% or less (20% or more down), PMI is 0, it lasts 0 months, total PMI is 0, there is no cancellation payment or date, and the page notes: “With 20% or more down, a conventional loan needs no PMI.”
  2. PMI a month = q ÷ 100 × L ÷ 12. PMI a year = 12 × that.
  3. Original schedule. The level payment is P = L × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), or L ÷ n at 0%. The scheduled balance after k payments is L(1 + r)^k − P((1 + r)^k − 1) ÷ r (at 0%, L − kP).
  4. Cancel on request: the first payment k after which the scheduled balance is at or below 0.80 × V. It is shown only when it is at or before the last PMI payment (step 6); when the midpoint ends PMI first, there is nothing left to cancel.
  5. Automatic end: K = the first payment k after which the scheduled balance is at or below 0.78 × V. PMI is included in payments 1 to K.
  6. Midpoint: PMI is never charged after payment n ÷ 2. So the months of PMI are the smaller of K and n ÷ 2, and total PMI = PMI a month × months of PMI.
  7. Dates (with a start date): payment k is dated k months after the start date. "Can ask to cancel from" is the date of the payment in step 4; "Last PMI payment" is the date of the last payment with PMI.
  8. Payment with PMI = P + PMI a month.

Assumptions

  • A conventional fixed-rate loan with borrower-paid PMI, charged monthly as a yearly percent of the original loan amount. Single-premium and lender-paid PMI are not covered.
  • The original value is the home price; enter the appraised value instead if it was lower.
  • You are current on your payments, and you make no extra payments (dates follow the original schedule).
  • FHA and VA loans have their own rules and are not covered here.
  • The default PMI rate and interest rate are examples, not quotes.

Worked examples by hand

A $300,000 home with 10% down at 7% over 30 years, PMI 0.5% a year. L = 270,000 and the LTV is 90%. PMI is 0.005 × 270,000 ÷ 12 = $112.50 a month, $1,350 a year. The payment is P = $1,796.32. On the original schedule the balance is $240,066.57 after payment 100 and $239,670.64 after payment 101, below 0.80 × 300,000 = $240,000, so you can ask to cancel after payment 101. It is $234,308.42 after payment 114 and $233,878.90 after payment 115, below 0.78 × 300,000 = $234,000, so PMI ends with payment 115, before the midpoint (180): 115 months, $12,937.50 in all.

A $400,000 home with 10% down at 6.5% over 30 years, PMI 0.5% a year, starting October 1, 2026. L = 360,000, PMI is 0.005 × 360,000 ÷ 12 = $150 a month, and P = $2,275.44. The scheduled balance falls to $319,707.73 after payment 95 (below $320,000), so you can ask to cancel after payment 95, dated September 2034. It falls to $311,822.12 after payment 109 (below $312,000), so PMI lasts 109 months, $16,350 in all, with the last one in November 2035.

A $100,000 home with 5% down at 12% over 30 years, PMI 1% a year. PMI is 0.01 × 95,000 ÷ 12 = $79.17 a month. At 12% the balance falls slowly: after payment 180 it is still $81,420.43, 81.4% of the value. So the midpoint rule ends PMI after 180 months ($14,250), before the balance reaches 80% (after payment 189), so no cancellation payment is shown.

A $400,000 home with 20% down. The LTV is exactly 80%, so there is no PMI: $0 a month for 0 months.

Other questions people ask

What is PMI and when do I have to pay it?

Private mortgage insurance protects the lender, not you. Conventional lenders usually require it when you put down less than 20% of the price. FHA loans have their own mortgage insurance premium, and VA loans have none.

How much does PMI cost?

It depends on your credit score, down payment, and loan. Freddie Mac puts it at about $30 to $70 a month for every $100,000 borrowed, which is 0.36% to 0.84% of the loan a year. Enter the rate from your lender's quote; the default here is an example.

When can I cancel PMI?

Under the Homeowners Protection Act you can ask your servicer in writing to cancel it once the balance is scheduled to reach 80% of the home's original value, if you are current on payments, have a good payment history, and the home has not lost value.

When does PMI end on its own?

The servicer must end it automatically when the balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the original value, if you are current. It must also end by the month after the midpoint of the loan term (15 years on a 30-year loan), even if the balance is still higher.

Does paying extra make PMI end sooner?

The automatic 78% date follows the original schedule, so extra payments do not move it. But you can ask to cancel as soon as your actual balance reaches 80% of the original value, so extra payments can end PMI sooner that way.

What is the original value of my home?

For the Homeowners Protection Act it is the lower of the purchase price and the appraised value when you bought the home. A higher value today does not count toward automatic removal, though some lenders allow removal with a new appraisal.