Broker DaveUSDA payment calculator
100% financing with the cheapest monthly mortgage insurance of any government program — 0.35% a year, against an annual fee structure that most calculators get wrong by a few dollars because they miss the gross-up. This one follows the handbook.
The purchase
$0 down · 100.00% LTV
30 yrs — 360 is a 30-year note, 180 a 15-year.
Escrows
1.10% of the price · $293.33/mo
$160.00/mo
Leave at 0 if there's no association.
USDA fees
USDA also caps household income and requires an eligible rural address — neither is a payment question, so neither is modeled here.
$320,000 loan at 6.375% · 100.00% LTV · 30 yrs
The monthly payment
- Principal & interest
- $2,016.55
- Property taxes
- $293.33
- Homeowners insurance
- $160.00
- USDA annual fee
- $93.70
- Total payment
- $2,563.58
Loan & cash to close
- Purchase price
- $320,000
- Down payment (0.00%)
- $0
- Base loan amount
- $320,000
- Loan-to-value
- 100.00%
- USDA guarantee fee (1%)
- $3,232
- Total loan amount (fee financed)
- $323,232
- Financed loan as a % of value
- 101.01%
- Cash to close
- $0
Cash to close here is the down payment plus any fee you chose not to finance. Title, escrow, appraisal, points and prepaids are separate — those come off a Loan Estimate, not a calculator.
USDA guarantee & annual fees
- Upfront guarantee fee (1%)
- $3,232
- Financed into the loan
- $323,232
- Annual fee rate
- 0.35%
- First month's annual fee
- $93.70
- Charged for
- the life of the loan
- Annual fees paid over the term
- $22,016
- Lifetime USDA fees
- $25,248
The gross-up nobody expects: USDA doesn't staple 1% onto your loan — it sizes the loan so that 1% OF THE FINISHED LOAN is the fee. HB-1-3555 Ch. 16 spells it out as $320,000 ÷ .99 = $323,232, of which $3,232 is the guarantee fee. It's a few dollars more than 1% of the base loan, and it's the reason a USDA loan can close above the appraised value.
The annual fee is 0.35% of the average scheduled unpaid principal balance for each 12-month period, billed monthly, calculated off the original amortization schedule at closing. It shrinks a little every year as the balance falls, but it never cancels — 7 CFR 3555 charges it for the life of the loan.
Amortization schedule
Every payment, with interest, principal, usda annual fee and the balance — yearly or month by month.
Email me this analysis
A guarantee fee at closing, an annual fee forever
Upfront guarantee fee — 1%
Charged once and almost always financed. USDA is the only program that lets the loan exceed the appraised value in order to carry its own fee, so a truly zero-cash-to-close purchase is possible.
Annual fee — 0.35%
Billed monthly against the average scheduled unpaid principal balance for each 12-month period. It's the lowest ongoing mortgage insurance of any program on this site — roughly a third of FHA's.
It never cancels
Like FHA above 90% LTV, the USDA annual fee runs the life of the loan. It shrinks a little each year as the balance falls, but the only way off it is a refinance or a sale.
The gross-up, and other details from the handbook
- USDA doesn't add 1% — it divides by .99. HB-1-3555 Chapter 16 sizes the loan so that 1% of the FINISHED loan is the fee: $100,000 ÷ .99 = $101,010.10, of which $1,010.10 is the guarantee fee. Add 1% to the base loan instead and you're about ten dollars light on every hundred thousand borrowed.
- The annual fee is struck once a year, not once a month. It's calculated on the average scheduled balance for the 12-month period, from the original amortization schedule at closing, then billed monthly at that fixed amount until the next anniversary.
- Fees are the FY2026 schedule — 1.00% upfront and 0.35% annual, for loans obligated on or after October 1, 2025. USDA reviews the structure each federal fiscal year, and whatever is in effect when you close applies for the life of the loan.
- Eligibility is a separate conversation. USDA caps household income by county and household size, and the address has to sit inside an eligible rural area. Neither affects the payment, so neither is modeled here — but both can end the discussion before the math matters.
This calculator is educational and is not a loan offer, a rate quote, or a commitment to lend. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any government agency. Every figure is an estimate. David Lurvey, NMLS 410420.