15 vs 30 Year Mortgage
Side-by-side payment and total-interest comparison, plus the case for each. Adjust the inputs to model your own loan.
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- Principal & Interest
- $2,275
- Property Taxes
- $450
- Home Insurance
- $100
15 vs 30 year, side by side
$360,000 borrowed, principal and interest only. Rates differ by term because lenders price them differently — using one rate for both would flatter the shorter loan.
| Term | Rate | Monthly P&I | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 years | 5.75% | $2,989.48 | $178,106 |
| 30 years | 6.5% | $2,275.44 | $459,160 |
| Difference | — | +$714.03/mo | −$281,054 |
Put plainly: about $714 more each month buys you roughly $281,054 in avoided interest and 15 fewer years of payments.
Which one is right for you
The case for 15 years
You own the house outright in half the time and pay dramatically less interest — typically less than half. Lenders also usually price 15-year loans a quarter to three-quarters of a point below 30-year loans, so the saving compounds. If the higher payment fits comfortably and you have a funded emergency reserve, this is the cheaper way to buy the same house.
The case for 30 years
The lower required payment is a real form of insurance. A 30-year loan with voluntary extra payments gets you most of the interest saving while leaving you the option to stop in a bad month — a 15-year loan makes that payment mandatory for fifteen years. If the rate gap is small and you would invest the difference, the 30-year can also win outright. Payment flexibility has value that an interest-total comparison does not show.
One rule of thumb worth more than the arithmetic: if choosing the 15-year would stop you funding an emergency reserve or capturing a full employer retirement match, take the 30-year and overpay when you can. Liquidity you have is worth more than interest you might avoid.
Other term comparisons
Related Calculators
Frequently Asked Questions
- Cheaper, not automatically better. On a $360,000 loan the 15-year costs about $714 more per month but saves roughly $281,054 in interest over its life. Whether that trade is right depends on whether the higher payment is comfortable — not just affordable — once you have also funded an emergency reserve and any retirement match.