Mortgage comparison: 15 years vs 30 years

Debating between the merits of a 15-year and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage? This calculator does the work for you. It simultaneously runs calculations for a 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, with different interest rates, and gives you the results. Compare monthly mortgage payments against total interest costs to determine the right loan for you. In addition, the calculator takes into account tax information so you can see how the difference in the mortgage interest deduction between the two loan types will affect your total costs and savings. The calculator will also create an amortization table for both the 15- and 30-year loans so you can do a side-by-side comparison of how fast you'll pay the loan down on each and what your accumulated interest costs would be for each year of the loan.

Mortgage comparison: 15-year vs. 30-year Overview

The two most popular fixed-rate mortgages are the 15-year and 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. There are pros and cons to choosing each type of mortgage and it really boils down to your own personal financial situation.

A 15-year fixed-rate mortgage lets you pay off the loan in half the time and pay significantly less interest in the long run, but also requires higher monthly mortgage payments. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage gives you much lower monthly payments, but you'll pay a lot more interest over the long run and will be making mortgage payments for a much longer time.

Using the Mortgage Comparison Calculator

Start by entering the loan amount and your marginal tax rate. If you don't know what your marginal tax rate is, look it up using the table at the bottom of the page. Be sure to use your taxable income, not your gross income, in determining your rate.

Next, enter the interest rates for both 15- and 30-year loans and hit "Calculate." Your monthly payments for the two types of loans will display right below the mortgage inputs. In the blue bar above the calculator, you'll see the total mortgage interest savings you'd realize from a 15-year mortgage, as well as how much more your monthly mortgage payment would be for that type of loan.

If you wish to explore a range of values, to see what effect changing the mortgage rates, loan amounts or your marginal tax rate would have, you can use the sliding green triangles to adjust your figures.

Viewing your report

You may notice that varying your marginal tax rate doesn't seem to have any immediate effect on your figures. That's because that information will be reflected in your individualized report.

Once you're entered all your information, click "View Report" and you'll get a new page comparing the two mortgage types but also with a table of Interest and Income Tax Information. That table will show your tax savings for both types of loans, for both the first year and the average annual savings over the life of the loan.

You'll also see a graph that illustrates the decline in your mortgage principle over the first 15 years for both loans, as well as the Payment Schedule –an annual amortization table –for the two types of loans. The Payment Schedule lets you make direct year-by-year comparisons between the two types of loans to see how fast you'd pay down the loan principle and how rapidly your total interest costs would accumulate.

Rate quote

Looking to get a 15- or 30-year fixed-rate mortgage? Use the "Get Free Quote" button at the top of the page to get personalized rate quotes for a mortgage, refinance, home equity loan or debt consolidation loan.

Mortgage comparison: 15 years vs 30 years Overview

The two most popular fixed-rate mortgages are the 15-year fixed and the 30-year fixed rate mortgages. There are pros and cons to choosing each type of mortgage and it really boils down to your own personal financial situation. A 15-year mortgage you will allow you to pay significantly less interest in the long run but it will also require higher monthly mortgage payments. A 30-year fixed mortgage with require lower monthly mortgage payments but you will end up paying more interest in the long run.