What income do you need for a $60,000 car?
A $60,000 car in Toronto, bought used over 60 months with nothing down, costs about $2,058 a month all-in at 9.64% APR over 60 months (7.29% to 11.99% for your credit). To carry that at 15% of before-tax income, the top of the band this calculator calls manageable, you need to make about $165,000 a year. One income, not a household's, and the share is measured on gross while every dollar of the cost leaves your take-home.
Income this car needs
$165,000
a year before tax, one person, not a household
Share of that income
15%
all-in, the top of the manageable band, paid out of take-home
Verdict at that income
Manageable
exactly at the ceiling; a dollar less income and it is Tight
What manageable means here
The verdict bands rate the car's whole monthly cost as a share of before-tax income: at or under 10% is Easy, to 15% Manageable, to 20% Tight, and past that Ouch. The income on this page is the exact point where a $60,000 car sits at the top of the manageable band, 15%. It is a ceiling, not a target: making $165,000 does not make this car comfortable, it makes it the most car the band will still call manageable. Earn more and the same car drops toward Easy; earn less and no rounding will save the verdict.
| Price | Income needed | All-in a month |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $146,000 a year | $1,820 |
| $60,000 | $165,000 a year | $2,058 |
| $80,000 | $203,000 a year | $2,534 |
The same question, asked backwards
This page turns a price into an income. The other half of the insight turns a payment into a price: what car a stated monthly budget actually backs, on both readings of the word payment. What car can I get for $800 a month?
People also ask
How much do I need to make to afford a $60,000 car?
About $165,000 a year before tax, on the assumptions this page uses: one income, no other debt, nothing down, a used vehicle over 60 months with Toronto insurance. At that income the car's full monthly cost sits exactly at 15% of gross, the top of the manageable band, so at any lower income the verdict slips to Tight or worse. Cheaper insurance, a down payment or a second household income all pull the figure down.
Is that gross income or take-home?
Gross, meaning before tax, because that is what the verdict bands are defined on. The money itself comes out of your take-home, which is why the share is never quoted here without the income in dollars beside it. If you budget on take-home, the same car takes a visibly bigger bite of what actually lands in your account.
What does a $60,000 car cost per month?
The all-in figure is in the sentence at the top of this page, with its rate and term beside it. It is not the loan payment: the loan is only 69% of the true monthly cost, and insurance, fuel, maintenance and licensing make up the rest. Quoting the loan payment alone is how a $60,000 car ends up costing half as much again as the buyer planned for.
Check it against your own life
This page holds everything still except the price: one income, no other debt, nothing down, a used vehicle over 60 months, Toronto insurance. The calculator opens at the income this price needs, so you can bend every other assumption toward your own.
Open this in the calculator