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: October 2026 · Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 1, 2026
Optional — see how extra payments shorten the loan
Year-by-year amortization schedule
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Remaining balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,849 | $28,993 | $396,151 |
| 2 | $4,139 | $28,704 | $392,012 |
| 3 | $4,450 | $28,392 | $387,562 |
| 4 | $4,785 | $28,057 | $382,777 |
| 5 | $5,145 | $27,697 | $377,631 |
| 6 | $5,533 | $27,309 | $372,099 |
| 7 | $5,949 | $26,893 | $366,149 |
| 8 | $6,397 | $26,445 | $359,752 |
| 9 | $6,879 | $25,963 | $352,873 |
| 10 | $7,397 | $25,446 | $345,477 |
| 11 | $7,953 | $24,889 | $337,523 |
| 12 | $8,552 | $24,290 | $328,971 |
| 13 | $9,196 | $23,646 | $319,775 |
| 14 | $9,888 | $22,954 | $309,887 |
| 15 | $10,633 | $22,210 | $299,255 |
| 16 | $11,433 | $21,409 | $287,822 |
| 17 | $12,294 | $20,549 | $275,528 |
| 18 | $13,219 | $19,623 | $262,309 |
| 19 | $14,214 | $18,628 | $248,095 |
| 20 | $15,284 | $17,558 | $232,811 |
| 21 | $16,435 | $16,407 | $216,376 |
| 22 | $17,672 | $15,170 | $198,704 |
| 23 | $19,002 | $13,840 | $179,702 |
| 24 | $20,433 | $12,409 | $159,269 |
| 25 | $21,971 | $10,871 | $137,298 |
| 26 | $23,625 | $9,217 | $113,674 |
| 27 | $25,403 | $7,439 | $88,270 |
| 28 | $27,316 | $5,527 | $60,955 |
| 29 | $29,372 | $3,470 | $31,583 |
| 30 | $31,583 | $1,259 | $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 7.28%, your first payment of $2,737 includes $2,427 of interest and only $310 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 7.28% over 30 years: r = 0.006067, n = 360, which yields a monthly payment of about $2,737 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. At current rates, the split reaches roughly 50/50 around year 21 of a 30-year mortgage. 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 7.28% over 30 years, total interest paid is approximately $585,000 — meaning you pay $985,000 to borrow $400,000. The same loan over 15 years at 6.60% costs only $231,000 in interest, a savings of $354,000. The interest paid depends heavily on rate and term: every 1% lower rate saves roughly $96,000 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 7.28%, adding just $200/month to principal saves about $135,000 in total interest and pays the loan off about 5 years and 10 months earlier. Adding $500/month saves roughly $244,000 in interest and shortens the loan by nearly 11 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 7.28% with $5,000 in closing costs, the APR might be 7.41%. 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 7.28%, the crossover point — when monthly principal payment exceeds monthly interest payment for the first time — happens around year 21. 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 6.60%, the crossover happens around year 5. 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: October 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.
Related calculators
Amortization example: a $250,000 mortgage at 6.5% over 30 years
The payment is $1,580.17 a month and never changes, but what it buys changes every month. In month one, $1,354.17 is interest and only $226.00 reduces the balance. The split does not reach 50/50 until month 233, early in year 20. The table shows the snapshot at key points.
| Month | Interest | Principal | Balance after payment | Interest paid so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,354.17 | $226.00 | $249,774.00 | $1,354.17 |
| 12 | $1,340.33 | $239.84 | $247,205.69 | $16,167.73 |
| 60 (year 5) | $1,269.33 | $310.84 | $234,027.44 | $78,837.65 |
| 120 (year 10) | $1,150.34 | $429.83 | $211,940.32 | $151,560.72 |
| 180 (year 15) | $985.79 | $594.38 | $181,397.85 | $215,828.46 |
| 240 (year 20) | $758.25 | $821.92 | $139,163.21 | $268,404.02 |
| 300 (year 25) | $443.61 | $1,136.56 | $80,760.41 | $304,811.42 |
| 360 (year 30) | $8.51 | $1,571.66 | $0.00 | $318,861.22 |
Total interest over 30 years: $318,861.22, which is 128% of the amount borrowed.
How each row is calculated
Monthly rate r = 6.5% / 12 = 0.541667%. Interest for the month = balance x r. Principal = payment minus interest. New balance = old balance minus principal. Month 1: 250,000 x 0.00541667 = $1,354.17 interest, 1,580.17 - 1,354.17 = $226.00 principal, balance $249,774.00. Repeat 360 times and the balance lands on zero to the cent.
The same loan over 15 years
At 6.5% over 15 years the payment is $2,177.77, which is $597.60 more a month, and total interest is $141,998.31. The 30 year loan costs $176,862.91 more in interest for the lower payment. That is the whole trade: cash flow now against interest over the life of the loan. Many borrowers take the 30 year loan for flexibility and then pay it like a 15 year loan when they can, which the calculator above models with the extra payment field.
Why the first years feel like running in place
After five years of payments ($94,810 paid in total) the balance has fallen by only $15,972. The rest, $78,838, was interest. This is not a trick by the lender, it is arithmetic: interest is charged on the balance, and the balance is largest at the start. It is also why selling or refinancing in the first few years recovers very little equity from payments alone, and why an extra principal payment in year one saves far more interest than the same payment in year twenty.
Reading your own schedule
Three numbers matter when you look at an amortization table. The crossover month, when principal first exceeds interest (month 233 here), tells you how long the lender earns more than you build. The interest paid so far at the point you expect to sell or refinance tells you the true cost of that period. The remaining balance at that point is what you still owe, which decides whether a refinance makes sense.