Last updated July 18, 2026
Average personal loan rate as of June 2026: 11.40% (24-month term, Federal Reserve G.19). See the full rate table.
Why the number on your statement rarely matches the ad
Ask three lenders for a payment on the same loan amount and you can get three different figures, even at the same headline rate. The gap is almost never the amortization math. It's what got bundled in before the math started: an origination fee rolled into the balance, a documentation charge, or a credit insurance add-on the loan officer mentioned once and you didn't say no to fast enough. Strip those out and every lender is running the identical formula on the identical three numbers.
The formula, run on your numbers
Payment M equals A times i, divided by 1 minus (1 plus i) to the power of negative n, where A is the amount borrowed, i is the monthly rate, and n is the total number of payments. Feed in a $25,000 loan at 7.5 percent for five years: i works out to 0.075 divided by 12, or 0.00625, and n is 60. The numerator, A times i, is 156.25. The denominator lands near 0.3115. Divide and you get roughly $501.50 a month, which is what the calculator above shows for the default numbers. Swap in your own figures and the same three-step arithmetic runs again behind the scenes.
Full amortization schedule
The table below breaks every payment into its interest and principal pieces, using whatever numbers are currently in the calculator. Early rows are interest-heavy because the balance is still large; by the last few rows nearly the whole payment is going to principal.
Payment by rate and term
| Rate | 3 years | 5 years | 7 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6% | $761 | $501 | $365 |
| 7.5% | $778 | $501 | $383 |
| 9% | $795 | $519 | $402 |
These are principal-and-interest figures on a $25,000 loan. Stretching the term always drops the monthly number and always raises what you hand over in interest, so the smallest monthly payment is rarely the loan that costs you the least overall.
Reading your own statement against this tool
If your lender's amortization table doesn't match this one at month one, check whether their first payment date is a full month out or a short first period, since a partial first month changes the day-one interest slightly. Beyond that, a mismatch almost always traces back to a fee financed into the loan balance rather than paid up front. The editorial standards page lists the primary sources behind the formula itself.
Related calculators
- APR Calculator, for when fees are financed into the loan
- Personal Loan Calculator, tuned for unsecured installment debt
- Auto Loan Calculator, adds trade-in and sales tax
- Debt Payoff Calculator, for revolving balances instead of fixed loans