FHA loans carry two mortgage insurance charges: an upfront premium at closing and an annual premium paid monthly. The annual premium, called MIP, is set by HUD's chart based on your loan term, your loan-to-value at origination, and your base loan amount. On most 30-year FHA loans with a loan-to-value above 90 percent at origination, it lasts for the life of the loan. At a loan-to-value of 90 percent or less, it lasts 11 years. MIP is an insurance premium, not an interest rate, and the Homeowners Protection Act rules that cancel PMI do not apply to it.
These figures come from Mortgagee Letter 2023-05, effective for case numbers endorsed on or after March 20, 2023, and appear in Appendix 1.0 of HUD Handbook 4000.1 (ML 2023-05; HUD 4000.1). Premiums are stated in basis points per year of the loan balance, where 100 basis points equals 1 percent.
Streamline and simple refinances of FHA loans endorsed on or before May 31, 2009 use a separate schedule. Your lender confirms the premium on your FHA case. The chart splits loans at a base loan amount threshold set by HUD. If your loan amount is near that line, your lender confirms which side of it your case falls on before you rely on a premium.
The upfront premium is 175 basis points, 1.75 percent, of the base loan amount for most FHA loans, and it is usually financed into the loan (HUD 4000.1 II.A.2.e). The annual premium is separate and is charged on top. On most loans, both apply.
The duration column decides. If your loan-to-value at origination was 90 percent or less, MIP ends after 11 years. Otherwise, it runs for the mortgage term. Paying the balance down later does not change the duration set at origination. The usual way out of life-of-loan MIP is to refinance into a different loan, such as a conventional loan, once your equity and credit support it. That is a new loan with new costs.
Private mortgage insurance on conventional loans can be cancelled under the Homeowners Protection Act at set loan-to-value points (12 U.S.C. 4902). FHA MIP follows HUD's chart instead. See removing PMI and the mortgage insurance overview.
Fictional example: a Fort Worth buyer uses FHA with HUD's minimum required investment, on a 30-year term, with a base loan amount under the threshold. The loan-to-value is over 95 percent, so the chart shows 55 basis points for the mortgage term. A second fictional buyer has a loan-to-value of 90 percent on the same price, so the chart shows 50 basis points for 11 years. No dollar figures are shown here because the premium depends on the actual loan balance.
To see whether FHA fits your situation in the first place, read FHA loans in Texas. FHA's county loan limits for 2026 are in Mortgagee Letter 2025-23.
If you are deciding between FHA and conventional, I can lay out the mortgage insurance on each side by side for your down payment. Book a call, or start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026