What Is the Average Mortgage Length?

The standard mortgage term in the U.S. is 30 years, and federal rules make it the longest term for most home loans.

What loan terms can you choose?

The loan term is the number of years you have to repay the loan if you make only the scheduled payments. The common choices are:

• 30 years: the lowest monthly payment and the most total interest.
• 20 years: a higher payment than 30 years and less total interest.
• 15 years: a higher payment still, usually a lower rate, and much less total interest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) notes that you may be able to negotiate other terms with a lender, such as 7 years or longer than 30 years. The term is separate from the rate type: a loan can have a fixed rate or an adjustable rate that changes after an initial period. Fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages compared explains how the rate type affects your payment.

Why is 30 years the usual maximum?

Two federal rules keep most loans at 30 years or less.

• Qualified mortgages: A qualified mortgage (QM) is a loan that meets CFPB standards, which gives the lender a legal presumption that it checked your ability to repay. A QM cannot have a term longer than 30 years, along with other limits such as no interest-only period.
• FHA loans: Under 24 CFR 203.17(d), an FHA-insured mortgage can have a term of no more than 30 years from the start of repayment.

A lender can still make a loan longer than 30 years, such as a 40-year loan, but it cannot be a QM, so the lender gives up that legal presumption.

How long do mortgages actually last?

Selling the home pays off the loan at closing, and a refinance pays off the old loan with a new one. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) data on loans still active at the end of the second quarter of 2026 measures their age since origination, not how long they last before payoff:

• 4 years old or less: 27.8% of loans.
• More than 4 to 7 years old: 42.8%.
• More than 7 to 10 years old: 9.2%.
• More than 10 years old: 20.2%.

In mid-2026, 19.2% of outstanding mortgages had a rate below 3%, while the Freddie Mac average for a new 30-year fixed loan was 7.32% for the week of October 22, 2026. An FHFA staff study found that for each percentage point by which market rates exceed a borrower's own rate, the chance that the borrower sells falls by 18.1%.

For planning, the useful number is how long you expect to keep this loan, not its term. If you are likely to sell or refinance within a few years, compare offers on what you will pay during those years. Page 3 of each Loan Estimate has a table of what you would pay in the first 5 years, which the CFPB suggests using alongside the annual percentage rate (APR), which reflects interest and certain loan fees over the loan term. A loan with a low APR can still have high upfront costs.

How does the term change your payment and total cost?

A shorter term raises the monthly payment but cuts the total interest, both because you borrow for fewer years and because 15-year rates are usually lower. The CFPB says the rate gap can be as much as a full percentage point. Using Freddie Mac averages for the week of October 22, 2026 (7.32% for 30 years and 6.68% for 15 years), a $300,000 loan looks like this:

The 15-year loan costs $582.31 more per month and $266,127 less in interest. Your own rates depend on your credit, down payment, and lender, so compare Loan Estimates for both terms. The 15-year and 30-year comparison works through payments, equity after 5 years, and qualifying for each.

How do you choose a term?

1. Set the payment you can carry. Add principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, and any mortgage insurance for each term you are considering.
2. Ask each lender to quote two terms. Get Loan Estimates for a 30-year and a 15-year or 20-year loan on the same day so the rates are comparable.
3. Decide whether you want the payment fixed or flexible. If you want the lower required payment with the option to pay faster, a 30-year loan with extra principal payments does that. Paying your mortgage early covers when extra payments make sense.
4. Plan for a later change. Changing the term of the loan itself generally requires refinancing, which means new closing costs and the rate available at that time. How refinancing works explains the process.

For how a mortgage is structured, from the note to the monthly payment, see what a mortgage is and how it works.