Income-Driven Repayment Calculator (IBR, PAYE, ICR)

How to use

1. Enter your AGI (adjusted gross income) from your latest federal return - line 11 of Form 1040 for most filers.
2. Set Household size (you plus spouse and dependents) and the Poverty-line basis: 48 states + DC (default), Alaska or Hawaii.
3. Enter your Loan balance and a weighted average interest rate across your federal loans.
4. Pick a plan in the Plan selector - IBR old/new, PAYE or ICR - or leave Show all to compare every branch at once.
5. Press Compute IDR estimate: the poverty line used, discretionary income, per-plan payments, standard comparison and projected totals appear.
6. Treat results as estimates: recertify income yearly with your servicer and verify official numbers in the StudentAid.gov Loan Simulator.

General information only — not medical, financial or legal advice. Figures cross-checked against public official sources (IRS / HMRC / NHS / WHO guidance); content last reviewed September 2026. For decisions that matter, confirm with a licensed professional in your country.

About this tool

Federal income-driven repayment sets your student-loan payment as a percentage of discretionary income: your adjusted gross income minus 150% of the federal poverty guideline for your family size. This calculator estimates IBR (15% or 10% depending on borrowing date), PAYE (10%) and ICR (20% of discretionary income) from your AGI and household, compares each to the 10-year standard payment, and projects what you would pay over the plan term if income stayed static. SAVE is intentionally not computed: it is in litigation limbo as of 2026. Numbers are estimates only - your servicer and StudentAid.gov decide actual payments.

The discretionary-income definition is statutory: AGI minus 150% of the poverty guideline, with the 1.5 multiplier fixed by the repayment regulations - this page labels the multiplier it uses and the guideline figures behind it (2026 HHS values for the 48 contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii, with $5,680 added per additional family member in the contiguous states). Payment percentages come from the plans themselves: 15% for older-borrower IBR, 10% for IBR for new borrowers after July 2014 and for PAYE, and 20% for the ICR branch computed here. Payments below $5 round to $0 under the standard IDR rule.

Honesty notes matter more than precision here. IBR and PAYE require a partial financial hardship test, so a computed payment at or above the 10-year standard amount usually means that plan is unavailable - the table flags those rows. ICR also has a fixed-payment branch (the 12-year standard amount reduced by an income factor) that this tool does not compute; only the 20% branch is shown. Forgiveness timelines (20 or 25 years) are approximate, projected totals assume static income, and any forgiven balance may be taxed. Eligibility, consolidation effects and final numbers come only from your servicer.

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