Free tool
Should I refinance?
Compares today's loan with a new one: how much your payment would drop (or rise), how many months until you recover the costs and how much you'd pay in all with each.
Free, no sign-up. What you type stays on your phone.
This week's average 30-year rate: 7.18% (Freddie Mac, November 5, 2026).
- Rules verified as of October 17, 2026.
- Public data from Freddie Mac
Type your numbers and the result changes right away. Everything is calculated here, in your browser.
Your two loans
Today's loan
The new loan
Adjust advanced details
Your plans
Let's do the math
Your payment would drop by
Enter what you owe, your rate and the time left on today's loan to see the comparison.
This is an educational estimate, not a loan offer. Taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance are not included. Your Loan Estimate has the real figures.
Rate of 7.18% (Freddie Mac national average as of November 5, 2026). Home insurance is an example; get quotes. This is an educational estimate, not a loan offer.
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How is it calculated?
The same formulas lenders use, with the rules each program publishes. Nothing is hidden.
The formula
Monthly savings = current payment − new payment. Break-even = refinance costs ÷ monthly savings, in months.
Example with the numbers for the United States
- Loan balance
- $321,056
- Current payment (30 years)
- $2,175 (7.18%)
- New payment
- $2,809 (6.57%, 15 years)
- Refinance costs (example)
- $9,632
- Difference in total interest
- $277,340
Computed from the page's data when it was built; in the tool you replace every number with your own.
What moves the result?
Six things that change the number more than anything else.
-
The rate
One point of rate changes the payment for the whole term. Compare at least three offers.
-
Closing costs
Charges, prepaids and escrow. The example uses 3% of the price until your estimate arrives.
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Time
How many years you stay changes whether buying, refinancing or waiting pays.
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The term
Over 15 years you pay more per month and far less interest in total than over 30.
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What you owe
Your remaining balance is the base of the new loan; the costs are added if you finance them.
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The program
Each program publishes its own rules. What the source says is what we show.
The official numbers behind the tool
Official data the tool uses, so you can compare.
The average rate, week by week
| Week | 30-year | 15-year |
|---|---|---|
| September 17, 2026 | 6.95% | 6.26% |
| September 24, 2026 | 7.03% | 6.42% |
| October 1, 2026 | 7.28% | 6.60% |
| October 8, 2026 | 7.40% | 6.73% |
| October 15, 2026 | 7.40% | 6.71% |
| October 22, 2026 | 7.32% | 6.68% |
| October 29, 2026 | 7.24% | 6.60% |
| November 5, 2026 | 7.18% | 6.57% |
- September 17, 2026 6.95%6.26%
- September 24, 2026 7.03%6.42%
- October 1, 2026 7.28%6.60%
- October 8, 2026 7.40%6.73%
- October 15, 2026 7.40%6.71%
- October 22, 2026 7.32%6.68%
- October 29, 2026 7.24%6.60%
- November 5, 2026 7.18%6.57%
Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (As of November 5, 2026)
Homes, incomes and taxes in the most populous states
| State | Typical value | Typical household income | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $734,700 | $99,122 | 0.7% |
| Texas | $283,800 | $78,476 | 1.49% |
| Florida | $359,000 | $74,568 | 0.76% |
| New York | $423,800 | $85,974 | 1.55% |
| Pennsylvania | $254,500 | $77,971 | 1.3% |
| Illinois | $263,300 | $83,390 | 2.01% |
| Ohio | $214,800 | $71,389 | 1.31% |
| Georgia | $303,300 | $77,353 | 0.77% |
- California $734,700$99,122
- Texas $283,800$78,476
- Florida $359,000$74,568
- New York $423,800$85,974
- Pennsylvania $254,500$77,971
- Illinois $263,300$83,390
- Ohio $214,800$71,389
- Georgia $303,300$77,353
Source: American Community Survey (Average 2020–2024)
— means the source publishes no value.
Want your county's numbers?
Type your county or ZIP code: the tool loads its numbers and keeps them in your browser for the other tools.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the rate need to drop to make it worth it?
There is no single number: it depends on your costs, what you owe and how long you will stay. That is why the tool divides the costs by how much your payment drops and compares it with your plans.
Should I add the costs to the loan?
You pay no cash at closing, but the loan grows and you pay interest on those costs for years. Check the box and compare the total both ways.
If my payment drops, do I always pay less in all?
Not always. If the new loan runs more years than today's has left, you can pay more interest in all even though the monthly payment drops. The table compares what is left to pay on each.
What is the FHA Streamline Refinance?
It refinances an FHA loan into another FHA loan with less paperwork and no appraisal. HUD requires at least 6 payments made and 210 days since closing, and a benefit to you: fixed rate to fixed rate, unless you shorten the term by 3 years or more, the new combined rate (interest plus the annual MIP) must be at least 0.5 points below today's.
Methodology and sources (Freddie Mac)
- The two payments: from what you owe, your rate and the time left we figure today's principal-and-interest payment; from the new rate and term, the new loan's. If you add the costs to the loan, the new loan is bigger.
- The break-even point: we divide the closing costs by how much your payment drops each month, the math VA recommends. The result is the number of payments it takes to recover what you pay to refinance.
- Your plans: if you expect to move (or refinance again) before that payment, we say so plainly. We start with 7 years as an example; change it to yours.
- The total: we add up what is left to pay on each loan, the costs you pay in cash and each loan's interest. The example costs are 3% of what you owe; your Loan Estimate has the real figure.
Data
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (As of November 5, 2026)
Program rules
- VA: Interest rate reduction refinance loan (IRRRL) · In effect since January 7, 2026
- HUD Handbook 4000.1, FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook, II.A.8.d.vi(C) — Streamline Refinances · Verified on October 17, 2026
What comes next?
Go on to the tool that answers your next question, or read a guide at your own pace.
Want someone to go over it with you? A HUD-approved counselor does it for free or at low cost. Find a counselor
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Mortgage calculator
Your monthly payment with taxes and insurance.
More tools
Guides to read next
- Mortgage insurance: PMI vs. MIP, and when it ends What mortgage insurance is, how conventional-loan PMI differs from FHA MIP, when each one ends and how to ask your servicer to remove it.
- Refinancing from an ITIN loan to conventional or FHA If you bought with an ITIN loan and your situation changed: what Fannie Mae and FHA require to refinance, what to check in your loan, and your rights.
- The VA funding fee and the IRRRL refinance How much the VA funding fee is on each loan type, who does not pay it, how to ask for a refund and the IRRRL rules for lowering your interest rate.
- Building an ADU for your family: what to check first Before you build an ADU for your parents or children: permits, your city's rules, how to pay for it, taxes and what FHA and Fannie Mae require.