See how much principal is paid on a mortgage each year, and how much goes to interest. You get the monthly payment, total interest and a year-by-year schedule.
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Balance |
|---|
Results update automatically as you type. Estimates only — confirm exact figures with your lender.
How Much Principal Is Paid on a Mortgage Each Year?
Very little at first, then more every year. On a $200,000 loan at 6% for 30 years, you pay about $14,389 a year, but only $2,456 of year one goes to principal. By year 20 the split is close to even, and in the last year almost all of it is principal.
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Balance at year end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,456 | $11,933 | $197,544 |
| 5 | $3,120 | $11,269 | $186,109 |
| 10 | $4,209 | $10,180 | $167,371 |
| 20 | $7,658 | $6,732 | $108,007 |
| 30 | $13,932 | $457 | $0 |
How to Calculate Amortization on a Loan
Work out the fixed monthly payment, then split each payment into interest on the current balance and principal. A yearly amortization calculator adds those months into one row per year.
Formula: Monthly payment M = P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n − 1]. Each month: Interest = Remaining balance × r; Principal = M − Interest; new Remaining balance = old balance − Principal
- Find r and n: 6% ÷ 12 = 0.5% a month, and 30 × 12 = 360 payments.
- Plug them into the formula: $200,000 gives a payment of about $1,199.10.
- Month 1 interest: $200,000 × 0.005 = $1,000, so $199.10 goes to principal.
- Subtract it from the balance and repeat; twelve months give $2,456 of principal in year one.
Here M is the fixed monthly payment, P the loan amount, r the monthly rate (APR ÷ 12) and n the number of payments (years × 12).
Example Scenarios
| Loan Amount | Interest Rate | Term | Monthly Payment | Total Interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $200,000 | 6% | 30 yrs | $1,199 | $231,700 |
| $350,000 | 6.5% | 30 yrs | $2,212 | $446,400 |
| $25,000 | 5% | 5 yrs | $472 | $3,310 |
| $400,000 | 4.5% | 15 yrs | $3,060 | $150,800 |
| $150,000 | 7% | 20 yrs | $1,163 | $129,100 |
Reading an Amortization Schedule for a 30 Year Fixed Mortgage
The amortization schedule for a 30 year fixed mortgage shows what the monthly payment hides: early payments are mostly interest. How much principal is paid in the first 5 years? On the $200,000 example, about $13,891, against $58,055 of interest.
- Extra principal cuts every later interest charge, as long as your lender has no prepayment penalty.
- Match the inputs to your loan documents: use the note rate rather than the APR, and the amount actually borrowed after any down payment.
These figures cover principal and interest only; a mortgage bill usually adds property tax and insurance. Adjustable-rate loans change after the fixed period, so the output holds only for that first stretch. The amortization schedule article on Wikipedia shows the formula, and your lender’s own schedule should agree closely with this one.
Common questions about loan amortization
How much principal is paid on a mortgage each year?
It starts small and grows every year. On a $200,000, 30-year loan at 6%, about $2,456 goes to principal in year 1, $4,209 in year 10 and $13,932 in the final year, while the yearly payments stay at about $14,389.How much principal is paid in the first 5 years?
On the same $200,000 loan at 6% over 30 years, about $13,891 of principal is paid in the first five years, against roughly $58,055 of interest. The balance is still about $186,109.Why is most of my early payment interest instead of principal?
Interest is calculated on your remaining balance each month, and early on that balance is at its highest, so a larger share of each payment goes to interest. As the balance shrinks, more of each fixed payment goes toward principal.Why is total interest so much bigger on a 30-year loan than a 15-year loan?
A longer term lowers each payment but keeps interest accruing on a larger balance for far longer. $200,000 at 6% costs about $231,676 in interest over 30 years but about $103,788 over 15 years, more than double.Is this the same as a mortgage amortization schedule?
Yes. The math is identical for any fixed-rate installment loan, whether it’s a mortgage, auto loan or personal loan, since it depends only on loan amount, interest rate and term.What does balance mean in the schedule’s last column?
It’s the principal still owed at the end of that year, after that year’s payments are applied. It should fall every year and reach zero, or very close to it, in the final year.Related Calculators
For a mortgage-specific view with property tax and insurance factored in, try the mortgage calculator. The general loan calculator works well for quick payment estimates on any installment loan, and if you want to see how extra payments shorten your payoff timeline, the extra mortgage payment calculator models that directly.