Mortgage Amortization Calculator
See your complete mortgage payment schedule with year-by-year principal and interest breakdown. Includes optional extra payment modeling that shows exactly how much interest and time you save by adding to principal each month.
Last updated: April 2026 · Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, April 2, 2026
Optional — see how extra payments shorten the loan
Year-by-year amortization schedule
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Remaining balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,505 | $25,708 | $395,495 |
| 2 | $4,805 | $25,408 | $390,690 |
| 3 | $5,124 | $25,089 | $385,566 |
| 4 | $5,465 | $24,748 | $380,100 |
| 5 | $5,829 | $24,384 | $374,271 |
| 6 | $6,217 | $23,996 | $368,054 |
| 7 | $6,631 | $23,582 | $361,423 |
| 8 | $7,072 | $23,141 | $354,351 |
| 9 | $7,543 | $22,670 | $346,808 |
| 10 | $8,045 | $22,168 | $338,764 |
| 11 | $8,580 | $21,633 | $330,183 |
| 12 | $9,151 | $21,062 | $321,032 |
| 13 | $9,760 | $20,453 | $311,272 |
| 14 | $10,410 | $19,804 | $300,863 |
| 15 | $11,102 | $19,111 | $289,761 |
| 16 | $11,841 | $18,372 | $277,920 |
| 17 | $12,629 | $17,584 | $265,290 |
| 18 | $13,470 | $16,744 | $251,821 |
| 19 | $14,366 | $15,847 | $237,455 |
| 20 | $15,322 | $14,891 | $222,133 |
| 21 | $16,342 | $13,872 | $205,792 |
| 22 | $17,429 | $12,784 | $188,363 |
| 23 | $18,589 | $11,624 | $169,774 |
| 24 | $19,826 | $10,387 | $149,948 |
| 25 | $21,145 | $9,068 | $128,803 |
| 26 | $22,552 | $7,661 | $106,250 |
| 27 | $24,053 | $6,160 | $82,197 |
| 28 | $25,654 | $4,559 | $56,543 |
| 29 | $27,361 | $2,852 | $29,182 |
| 30 | $29,182 | $1,031 | $0 |
Shows total principal and interest paid each year, plus remaining balance at year-end. Notice how the principal/interest split shifts over time — early years are interest-heavy.
Frequently asked questions
What is an amortization schedule?
An amortization schedule is a complete table showing every monthly payment over the life of your loan, broken down into how much goes to principal versus interest. In the early years of a 30-year mortgage, almost all of your payment goes to interest — for a $400,000 loan at 6.46%, your first payment of $2,520 includes $2,153 of interest and only $367 of principal. Over time, the split inverts: your final payment is almost entirely principal. This gradual shift is called "amortization."
How is the monthly mortgage payment calculated?
The standard mortgage formula is M = P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n - 1], where M is the monthly payment, P is the loan principal, r is the monthly interest rate (annual rate divided by 12), and n is the total number of monthly payments (years × 12). For a $400,000 loan at 6.46% over 30 years: r = 0.005383, n = 360, which yields a monthly payment of about $2,520 for principal and interest only. Add property tax and insurance for the full PITI payment.
Why is so much of my early payment going to interest?
Mortgage interest is calculated each month on the remaining balance. At the start of a 30-year loan, your balance is at its highest — so the interest portion is also at its highest. As you pay down principal, the interest charged each month decreases, and the principal portion of your fixed payment grows. By year 15 of a 30-year mortgage, the split is roughly 50/50. By year 25, you are putting most of each payment toward principal. This is why making extra principal payments early in the loan saves the most interest.
How much interest will I pay over the life of a 30-year mortgage?
For a $400,000 loan at 6.46% over 30 years, total interest paid is approximately $507,000 — meaning you pay $907,000 to borrow $400,000. The same loan over 15 years at 5.77% costs only $200,000 in interest, a savings of $307,000. The interest paid depends heavily on rate and term: every 1% lower rate saves roughly $80,000 over 30 years on a $400,000 loan, and shortening from 30 to 15 years cuts total interest by 60%.
What does adding $200/month to principal do?
On a $400,000 30-year mortgage at 6.46%, adding just $200/month to principal saves about $93,000 in total interest and pays the loan off about 4 years and 8 months earlier. Adding $500/month saves roughly $180,000 in interest and shortens the loan by nearly 10 years. The earlier you start making extra payments, the bigger the impact, because every extra dollar of principal stops accruing interest for the rest of the loan term.
Do extra payments need to be paid through escrow?
No. Extra principal payments should be made directly to your loan servicer with the explicit instruction "apply to principal only." If you do not specify, some servicers will hold the extra money in escrow or apply it to the next month's payment, which does not reduce interest. Most lenders allow you to set up a recurring extra principal payment online. Always verify on the next statement that the extra payment was applied correctly to principal.
What is the difference between APR and interest rate?
The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the principal, used to calculate your monthly payment. The APR (Annual Percentage Rate) includes the interest rate plus other loan costs like origination fees, discount points, and mortgage insurance, expressed as an annualized percentage. APR is always higher than the rate. For a 30-year mortgage at 6.46% with $5,000 in closing costs, the APR might be 6.62%. APR is used by federal law for "apples-to-apples" comparison between lenders.
What is mortgage amortization vs simple interest?
Standard mortgages use amortization, where the same payment amount is made every month and the principal/interest split shifts over time. Simple interest mortgages (less common — sometimes used by Edmund Capital, ICANS, etc.) calculate interest daily based on the actual balance, so paying earlier in the month saves more interest. About 95% of US mortgages are standard amortizing mortgages. The amortization schedule on this page assumes the standard amortizing structure used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loans.
When will I pay off more principal than interest each month?
For a 30-year mortgage at 6.46%, the crossover point — when monthly principal payment exceeds monthly interest payment for the first time — happens around year 19. Before that, more than half of each payment goes to interest. After that, more than half goes to principal. For a 15-year mortgage at 5.77%, the crossover happens around year 6. This is one major reason 15-year mortgages build equity much faster than 30-year mortgages.
Can I get a copy of my amortization schedule from my lender?
Yes. All federally-insured mortgage lenders are required to provide an amortization schedule on request. You can usually download it as a PDF from your loan servicer's online portal. The schedule shows every payment, the principal and interest split, and the running balance. If you make extra payments, request an updated schedule annually because the original schedule will no longer be accurate.
How does the amortization schedule change if I refinance?
Refinancing creates a brand new loan with a new amortization schedule that starts over at month 1. Even if you refinance into the same loan term, the new schedule will front-load interest again because your new balance is at its peak. This is why refinancing late in your existing loan term often does not make financial sense — you reset the amortization clock and pay another decade of mostly-interest payments. Use a refinance calculator with break-even analysis before refinancing.
What is negative amortization?
Negative amortization happens when your monthly payment is less than the interest charged that month, so the unpaid interest gets added to your principal balance — meaning you owe MORE each month even though you are making payments. This was common in pay-option ARMs and interest-only loans before 2008 and contributed to the financial crisis. Negative amortization is now banned for "qualified mortgages" under Dodd-Frank rules. Standard mortgages always amortize down, never up.
Data sources: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for current rate averages; standard amortization formula M = P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n - 1].
Last updated: April 2026.
Disclaimer: This calculator shows principal and interest only. Your actual mortgage payment also includes property tax, homeowners insurance, and possibly mortgage insurance (PMI). Use the full mortgage calculator for total monthly payment estimates.