Debt to income ratio, debt ratio, or DTI is the ratio between the amount of monthly installment and revolving debt a borrower has and the gross monthly  income.  The debt to income ratio measures how much you can borrow based on your proposed mortgage payments, taxes and insurance in relation to your total monthly income.  Typically lenders allow you to  borrow 33% to 40% of your monthly income.

The debt to income formula may vary slightly from lender to lender, but only slightly in that some may raise the acceptable ratios and  others do not.  The overall concept of the debt to income ratio is uniform though: comparing your debt load to your monthly gross income.

Simply put your debt to income ratio or DTI is quick and easy way of showing what percentage of your income is available for a mortgage loan payment after all your other monthly financial obligations are met.