30-Year Mortgage Tipping Point

Here’s a clear chart of the mortgage principal/interest tipping point for interest rates from 3% to 7%.

What the tipping point means

On a fixed-rate amortizing mortgage the monthly payment is constant, but the split between interest and principal changes every month. Early payments are mostly interest. The tipping point is the first month in which the principal portion exceeds the interest portion. After that, more than half of every payment builds equity.

Key fact: For a given loan term, the tipping point depends only on the interest rate (and term). Loan amount does not change the month number.

30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Results

Interest Rate	Tipping Month	Time into Loan	Tipping Year
3.00%	84	7 years	7
3.25%	105	8y 9m	9
3.50%	124	10y 4m	10
3.75%	139	11y 7m	12
4.00%	153	12y 9m	13
4.25%	165	13y 9m	14
4.50%	176	14y 8m	15
4.75%	186	15y 6m	16
5.00%	195	16y 3m	16
5.25%	203	16y 11m	17
5.50%	210	17y 6m	18
5.75%	216	18 years	18
6.00%	223	18y 7m	19
6.25%	228	19 years	19
6.50%	233	19y 5m	19
6.75%	238	19y 10m	20
7.00%	242	20y 2m	20

Main insights

• Lower rates reach the tipping point much sooner. At 3% it happens in year 7; at 7% it takes until year 20.
• At today’s more typical rates (6–7%), most of the first 18–20 years still has interest as the larger share of the payment.
• Paying more towards principal early on makes a huge difference in saving money on interest payments and shortening the length of the loan.

These numbers match published amortization analyses (e.g., SmartAsset’s study) and were calculated from the standard mortgage amortization formula. Extra principal payments early in the loan will pull the tipping point forward significantly.