What HUD Income Limits Are

HUD income limits are the maximum income thresholds households can earn and still qualify for federal housing assistance programs. They are not fixed national figures — they are calculated separately for approximately 2,600 metropolitan statistical areas and non-metropolitan counties across the United States, based on the median household income in each area.

HUD publishes updated income limits annually, typically in March or April. The updates reflect the most recent American Community Survey data from the Census Bureau, processed through HUD's statistical methodology to ensure year-to-year stability. Once published, the new limits are effective for the federal fiscal year (beginning October 1).

Income limits matter because they determine who can receive housing assistance and what kind. If your household's gross income is above the relevant limit for your household size and area, you are not eligible for that program — even if you struggle to afford housing by any reasonable measure. Understanding the limits for your specific location and household size is the first step in assessing your options.

The Three Tiers — ELI, VLI, and Low Income

HUD uses three primary income limit tiers, each used in different programs:

Extremely Low Income (ELI) — 30% AMI: This is the lowest threshold, used to establish priority within programs rather than eligibility. Federal law requires PHAs to admit at least 40% of new public housing residents and issue at least 75% of new Section 8 vouchers to households at or below 30% AMI. If your income is at or below this level, you have the highest priority within most HUD programs.

Very Low Income (VLI) — 50% AMI: This is the primary eligibility threshold for Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. To receive a voucher, your household's gross income must be at or below 50% of your area's median income. This threshold also applies to Project-Based Section 8, HUD-VASH, Emergency Housing Vouchers, and most other voucher-based programs.

Low Income — 80% AMI: This is the broadest eligibility threshold, used for public housing (statutory eligibility cap), HOME-assisted rentals, the CDBG program, and several other programs. In practice, the high demand from lower-income households means most PHAs serve primarily ELI and VLI households even when the statutory limit is 80% AMI.

What Changed in 2026

For FY2026, HUD income limits increased in most metropolitan areas. The national average increase was approximately 3–5%, reflecting continued wage growth in most parts of the country and updated American Community Survey data. High-growth metros — particularly in the Sunbelt and Mountain West — saw larger increases of 6–10%. A small number of areas where wages were flat or declining saw minimal changes, with the hold harmless provision preventing any decreases.

What this means in practice: households whose income was slightly above the previous year's limit for their area and household size may find themselves newly eligible in 2026, without any change in their own income. If you applied for a housing program in 2025 and were found ineligible due to income, it may be worth checking whether your income now falls within the updated 2026 limits before reapplying.

Current program participants are not affected by limit increases — you don't lose eligibility because limits go up. And limits going up doesn't reduce your benefit; your benefit is still calculated based on 30% of your adjusted income, not based on where you fall relative to the AMI limit.

Programs That Use These Limits

HUD income limits are used across multiple federal housing programs:

  • Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers — 50% AMI eligibility, 30% AMI priority
  • Public Housing — 80% AMI eligibility, 30% AMI targeting requirement
  • Project-Based Section 8 — 50% AMI (same as HCV)
  • Emergency Housing Vouchers — 50% AMI
  • HUD-VASH (Veterans) — 50% AMI
  • HOME Investment Partnerships — 80% AMI for rental units
  • Section 202 (elderly housing) — 50% AMI
  • Section 811 (disabled housing) — 50% AMI
  • CDBG-funded housing programs — 80% AMI
  • Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects — 50% or 60% AMI depending on election; uses HUD limits

Non-HUD programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and LIHEAP use Federal Poverty Level (FPL) thresholds rather than AMI — see below for the difference.

How to Find Your Specific Limit

The most direct approach is HUD's Income Limit documentation system at huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html. The tool provides a dropdown menu to select the current fiscal year, then your state, then your county or metropolitan statistical area. It returns a table showing income limits for all three tiers and household sizes from 1 to 8 persons.

When using the tool:

  • Select the most recent fiscal year available — FY2026 limits are the current standard
  • Some counties are part of a named metropolitan statistical area (MSA) that covers multiple counties — the tool handles this automatically when you select your county
  • Household size matters — a family of four has a higher limit than a single person in every area

Your PHA can also provide this information directly. When you contact a PHA to ask about eligibility, they can tell you the income limits for their programs and whether your household is within them based on your household size and income.

The Hold Harmless Rule

HUD's income limits include a hold harmless provision that prevents limits from decreasing in any area from one year to the next. Even if a metro area's AMI declined slightly — due to population change, income shifts, or methodological updates — its income limits remain at the prior year's level under this protection.

For program applicants, this means that eligibility is never made more restrictive simply because of local economic changes. If you were eligible last year at your income level, you remain eligible this year even if the area's median income declined. Your eligibility can only be affected by changes in your own income, not by downward changes in area median income.

If You're Near the Eligibility Threshold

Several points worth knowing if your household income is close to an eligibility limit:

Gross vs adjusted income: Eligibility screening uses gross income (before deductions). But program benefits are calculated on adjusted income (after deductions for dependents, elderly/disabled household members, and some expenses). It's possible to have gross income above an eligibility limit but still receive some forms of assistance if the program uses adjusted income for benefit calculation rather than just gross eligibility screening.

Household composition matters: Adding a household member — a baby, a parent moving in — increases your household size, which raises the income limit that applies to you. The limit for a family of five is meaningfully higher than for a family of four.

Income averaging: Some PHAs look at projected annual income rather than a single month's earnings. For households with variable income (seasonal work, recent job loss), an annual projection may produce a different eligibility determination than a single-month calculation.

Deductions at application: When you apply, some PHAs calculate eligibility using adjusted income (after deductions) rather than gross. If you have significant dependent childcare costs, medical expenses, or earn income from employment, deductions may bring your calculated income within the limit even if gross income exceeds it.

AMI vs Federal Poverty Level — The Difference

HUD programs use Area Median Income (AMI) as their threshold. Most other federal assistance programs — SNAP, Medicaid, LIHEAP, WIC, school meals — use Federal Poverty Level (FPL) thresholds. These are entirely different calculations and produce different results.

The key practical difference: AMI varies by metro area, while FPL is the same nationwide. A household in New York City has a higher AMI-based eligibility limit than the same household in rural Mississippi, because NYC's median income is much higher. FPL-based programs don't make this geographic adjustment — a family of four must have income below 130% FPL to qualify for SNAP whether they live in Manhattan or rural Nebraska.

For households near the eligibility margin, this distinction matters: you might be over the FPL limit for SNAP in a low-cost area while being well within the AMI limit for Section 8 in a high-cost area. The Benefits Match Quiz accounts for both AMI and FPL thresholds across all programs to give you an accurate eligibility picture.