The scale changes as your income increases. As you pointed out, someone who makes $145k could easily spend 30%, or even 50%, of pre-tax income on housing and st

The scale changes as your income increases. As you pointed out, someone who makes $145k could easily spend 30%, or even 50%, of pre-tax income on housing and still have more left over than most peoples' entire monthly income. On the other hand, someone making $40k per year who spends 30% of pre-tax income on housing is going to have a pretty tight budget. So, these are all pretty rough guidelines, and the best thing to do is to spend an amount on housing that does not compromise your other financial goals, no matter what the percentage happens to be.