To understand how lenders view a good DTI for a personal loan, it’s useful to first learn how DTI ratio figures into mortgages. There are two types of DTI in the mortgage market: Front-end ratio: This is the percentage of your monthly gross income allocated to fixed housing expenses, including mortgage payments, homeowner’s insurance, property taxes, and HOA fees. The ideal front-end ratio should not exceed 28%. Back-end ratio: The percentage of your income to cover all your debt obligations, including housing costs, student loans, car loans, credit card payments, child support, and other debts. The ideal back-end ratio is no higher than 36%. Although the exact definition of a good DTI ratio varies with each personal loan provider, it’s a good bet that the 36% value is key. However, mortgages are secured, and personal loans are not. It stands to reason that a provider of unsecured personal loans would consider only a lower DTI ratio to be “good” since the lender assumes more risk when a loan is not collateralized. Therefore, a good DTI ratio for a personal loan is probably 15% or less.