About this calculator
Private mortgage insurance has no official price list — each insurer (Radian, Enact, MGIC, Essent, National MI, Arch) files its own rate card, and lenders pick the insurer. The table under this calculator is a real one: Radian Guaranty's borrower-paid monthly card, standard case, cross-checked cell-for-cell against Essent's published card, which agrees on every shared row. Read it the way an underwriter does: your LTV band picks the row, your credit score picks the column. At 95% LTV the spread is brutal — 0.38% a year with a 760 score against 1.42% at 620–639, which on a $380,000 loan is the difference between $120 and $450 a month.
Cancellation is where the Homeowners Protection Act does you a favour. On the original amortization schedule, you may request cancellation when the balance reaches 80% of the original value (with a clean payment record), and the servicer must terminate PMI automatically at 78% — on the example loan those are months 124 and 135, after roughly $31,000 of premiums. There is a faster, discretionary path: if the home has appreciated, servicers following Fannie Mae's guide (B-8.1-04) may cancel based on current value — typically at 75% LTV within the first 2–5 years or 80% after five years, with an appraisal you pay for. The calculator shows the month your balance crosses 80% of the appreciated value at your assumed growth rate; treat it as the earliest date worth asking, not a promise.
How to use it
- Enter price and down payment; if LTV is 80% or less the calculator tells you PMI never applies.
- Pick your credit band honestly — it moves the price more than any other input.
- Read the starting monthly premium, then the three dates: request at 80% (original value), automatic at 78%, and the appreciation path.
- Compare the total PMI against putting more down or improving credit before closing — and against FHA's MIP, which prices low-credit files more gently but may never cancel.
The formula
The card rate is an annual percentage of the loan, set by the LTV band and credit score at origination, with the coverage percentage the GSEs require for that band (35% at 95–97% LTV down to 12% at 80–85%). On monthly plans the premium follows the declining balance, so the dollars fall slowly even though the rate is fixed. The 80%/78% milestones use the original value and original schedule, exactly as the Homeowners Protection Act defines them; the appreciation row re-values the home at your growth assumption instead.
Worked example
A $400,000 home with 5% down: the $380,000 loan is at 95% LTV. With a 700–719 credit score the card rate is 0.78%, so PMI starts at $247.00 a month. On the original schedule at 6.5%, the balance reaches 80% of the price in month 124 (request cancellation) and 78% in month 135 (automatic termination), after about $30,740 of premiums. If the home grows 3% a year, the balance crosses 80% of its current value in month 50 — worth an appraisal conversation with the servicer years earlier.
Sources: Published monthly borrower-paid rate card of a national mortgage insurer (standard fixed-rate, primary-residence coverage). PMI pricing is insurer-proprietary and risk-based in practice — treat these rates as well-grounded estimates, not quotes. Last updated: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is this PMI estimate?
It is an estimate from a published rate card — Radian's standard-case monthly card, which Essent's published card matches on the shared rows — not a quote. Real pricing adds adjustments (DTI above 45%, cash-out refinances, investment properties, manufactured homes, multiple borrowers and more) and many lenders now receive risk-based prices from insurer engines rather than the printed card. Expect your actual quote within roughly ±20% of the figure here for a standard purchase, and treat the card as the negotiation baseline.
When does PMI stop?
Under the Homeowners Protection Act, for conventional loans closed after July 29, 1999: you can request cancellation at 80% LTV of the original value (in writing, with a good payment history), the servicer must terminate it automatically at 78% on the original amortization schedule, and it must end by the loan's midpoint regardless. FHA loans do not use PMI at all — they charge MIP under different rules — and lender-paid PMI never "stops"; it is built into a higher rate for the loan's life.
Can I remove PMI early if my home went up in value?
Often, yes. Following Fannie Mae servicing guide B-8.1-04, servicers may cancel on current value: generally at 75% LTV if the loan is 2–5 years old, 80% if older than 5 years, or 80% within the first two years only for substantial documented improvements. You will pay for an appraisal or broker price opinion, and approval is discretionary — but the calculator's appreciation row shows when the math starts to justify asking.
Is it better to pay PMI or put 20% down?
Run the totals: on the example loan, PMI costs about $31,000 over 11 years — but waiting to save the extra $60,000 of down payment has its own cost in rent and price moves, and the down payment itself is not free if it empties your reserves. PMI is a reasonable bridge when you expect income growth, appreciation, or a refinance; it is a poor deal at the top LTV band with a low credit score, where the rate card is steepest and cancellation is furthest away.
Why is my lender's PMI quote different from the card?
Three common reasons: a different insurer with a slightly different card; an adjustment that applies to your file (a DTI over 45% is the most frequent); or risk-based pricing, where the insurer's engine quotes your specific combination of score, LTV, DTI and property type. Ask which insurer priced your loan and whether a single-premium or lender-paid structure was assumed — the structures are not comparable at a glance.
What formula does this pmi calculator use?
Monthly PMI = loan × card rate for (LTV band × credit band) ÷ 12, charged on the outstanding balance. Cancellation months are read off the amortization schedule at the 80% and 78% balance marks. The card rate is an annual percentage of the loan, set by the LTV band and credit score at origination, with the coverage percentage the GSEs require for that band (35% at 95–97% LTV down to 12% at 80–85%). On monthly plans the premium follows the declining balance, so the dollars fall slowly even though the rate is fixed. The 80%/78% milestones use the original value and original schedule, exactly as the Homeowners Protection Act defines them; the appreciation row re-values the home at your growth assumption instead. The worked example on this page applies the formula step by step with real numbers, so you can verify the result by hand.