Free tool
Prorated rent calculator
Move-in or move-out mid-month? Enter the rent and the date and get the prorated amount, by actual days in the month or the 30-day method, with the arithmetic shown so you can put it in the lease.
Educational calculator, not legal advice. A few jurisdictions regulate proration method or rounding; your lease language controls. Nothing you type here is stored.
How prorated rent is calculated
One formula, two conventions:
Prorated rent = (monthly rent ÷ days in the month) × days occupied.
The only disagreement is the denominator. The actual-days method divides by the real length of that month (28 to 31 days), so the daily rate changes month to month. The 30-day "banker's month" always divides by 30, which is simpler but slightly overcharges tenants in 31-day months and undercharges in February. Most leases and most landlords use actual days; whichever you pick, write it into the lease so nobody argues at move-out.
Worked example
Rent is $2,400 and the tenant moves in on June 20. June has 30 days, and the tenant occupies June 20 through 30, which is 11 days:
$2,400 ÷ 30 = $80.00 per day → $80.00 × 11 days = $880.00
Same rent, but a July 20 move-in (31-day month): $2,400 ÷ 31 = $77.42 per day × 12 days = $929.03 by actual days, versus $880.00 by the 30-day method. That $49 gap is the whole methods debate.
Daily rent rate by month length
With the actual-days method the daily rate moves with the calendar, so the same rent costs more per day in February than in July. Here is the rate at three common rents:
| Days in the month | $1,800 rent | $2,400 rent | $3,000 rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 (February) | $64.29 | $85.71 | $107.14 |
| 29 (leap-year February) | $62.07 | $82.76 | $103.45 |
| 30 (Apr, Jun, Sep, Nov) | $60.00 | $80.00 | $100.00 |
| 31 (Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Oct, Dec) | $58.06 | $77.42 | $96.77 |
| 30-day method (any month) | $60.00 | $80.00 | $100.00 |
Multiply the daily rate by the days occupied and you have the prorated amount. The calculator above runs the same arithmetic for any rent and any date.
When the prorated month is usually paid
Standard practice protects the landlord: collect a full first month's rent plus the deposit at signing, then apply the prorated amount to the second month. A tenant who moves in on the 20th pays the full month upfront and a small second-month bill, instead of starting the tenancy on a $880 payment. It also keeps the rent due date on the 1st from day one.
Move-out proration
Same math from the other end: the tenant pays for the days through the move-out date. A tenant leaving June 11 owes 11 days. Where move-out proration gets messy is when notice periods and lease end dates disagree; the lease's holdover and notice clauses control, and the deposit is not a substitute for the last month's prorated rent unless the lease says so. Track what was actually owed and received per tenancy in a rent ledger, and the move-out reconciliation writes itself.
Prorating other charges
The same daily-rate math prorates anything billed by the month: a flat utility fee, pet rent, parking, or a landlord-paid bill you pass through mid-cycle. Divide the monthly amount by the days in the period, multiply by the days that apply, and note the method on the invoice or in the lease the same way you would for rent.
Prorated rent chart: what share of the month a move-in day costs
The table above fixes the rent and moves the calendar. This one does the opposite: it fixes nothing, so it works for any rent. Find the move-in day, take the share for that month length, and multiply it by your monthly rent. Days owed counts the move-in day itself, which is the convention almost every lease uses.
| Move-in day | Days owed in a 30-day month | Share of the rent | Days owed in a 31-day month | Share of the rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 30 | 100.00% | 31 | 100.00% |
| 5th | 26 | 86.67% | 27 | 87.10% |
| 10th | 21 | 70.00% | 22 | 70.97% |
| 15th | 16 | 53.33% | 17 | 54.84% |
| 16th | 15 | 50.00% | 16 | 51.61% |
| 20th | 11 | 36.67% | 12 | 38.71% |
| 25th | 6 | 20.00% | 7 | 22.58% |
| 28th | 3 | 10.00% | 4 | 12.90% |
| 30th | 1 | 3.33% | 2 | 6.45% |
Two things fall out of it. A move-in on the 16th of a 30-day month is exactly half the rent, which is where the "half month" rule of thumb comes from; in a 31-day month the same date is 51.61%, so the shortcut quietly undercharges. And the shares are not symmetrical, because the move-in day is a day the tenant occupies: the 20th of a 30-day month leaves 11 days, not 10.
Round the dollars, not the percentage. The shares above are shown to two decimals for reading, so the honest arithmetic is still rent multiplied by days, divided by days in the month. The page's own example, $2,400 with a June 20 move-in, is $2,400 x 11 / 30 = $880.00 exactly, where 36.67% x $2,400 gives $880.08. Eight cents is nothing until a tenant checks your math.
Prorated months and Schedule E fair rental days
A prorated month shows up twice at tax time. The dollars are simple: prorated rent is ordinary rental income, reported on Schedule E line 3 in the year you receive it. The days matter too. Schedule E asks for fair rental days per property, and in a move-in month only the days the tenant actually rented count, 11 days for a June 20 move-in, not 30. Days the unit sat vacant between tenants are not fair rental days, though expenses for a unit held out for rent stay deductible while it sits empty. If you tally this by hand, the Schedule E worksheet keeps the income and the day counts in one place.