HUD Income Limits — Section 8 Eligibility by County and Family Size
HUD publishes annual income limits that determine who qualifies for the Housing Choice Voucher program, Section 202 supportive housing, Section 811 disability housing, and other federal rental assistance programs. This page explains the three limit tiers, how family size adjusts the figures, and how PHAs use them during voucher issuance and recertification.
The three income tiers
HUD sets three income limits for every metropolitan area and non-metro county, expressed as a percentage of Area Median Income (AMI):
Extremely Low Income (ELI): the greater of 30% of AMI or the federal poverty line. At least 75% of new voucher issuances each year must go to ELI households.
Very Low Income (VLI): 50% of AMI. This is the primary Section 8 eligibility threshold — most Housing Choice Voucher applicants must fall at or below VLI at initial application.
Low Income (LI): 80% of AMI. Used for a handful of programs (Section 202, some public housing) and for over-income recertifications; households can remain in the voucher program at incomes up to LI once initially admitted.
Family-size adjustments
Income limits scale with family size. HUD publishes the 4-person figure as the base and adjusts as follows: 1-person = 70% of 4-person, 2-person = 80%, 3-person = 90%, 5-person = 108%, 6-person = 116%, 7-person = 124%, 8-person = 132%. Larger families follow the pattern (+8 percentage points per additional person).
How PHAs verify income
PHAs verify income through the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system, third-party wage reports, tax returns, benefit award letters (Social Security, TANF, unemployment), and current pay stubs. Self-employment income requires either the prior year's Schedule C or a year-to-date profit-and-loss statement. Income from all household members age 18+ is combined; earnings of full-time students age 18+ (other than the head or spouse) are typically excluded above a de minimis threshold.
Adjusted income vs. gross income
Tenant rent contributions use adjusted income, not gross. HUD's standard adjustments include $480 for each dependent, $525 for each elderly or disabled household member, medical expenses above 3% of gross for elderly/disabled families, childcare expenses necessary for work or school, and disability-assistance expenses. Adjusted income is typically 5–20% lower than gross for a family with children.
Recertification and over-income households
PHAs recertify voucher families annually. A family whose income rises above 80% AMI (Low Income) for two consecutive years may be terminated from the program under HOTMA rules that took effect in 2024. Families whose income rises but remains under 80% AMI stay eligible; their tenant contribution simply increases as 30% of adjusted income grows.
Where the numbers come from
Section8Max republishes HUD's Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project (MTSP) and Section 8 Income Limits datasets. HUD releases new figures each April; we ingest and republish within 30 days.
How income limits are set and what they mean for you
HUD publishes income limits every year for every metro and non-metro county, and they determine who is eligible for a voucher in the first place. They are derived from area median income, adjusted for household size, and capped and floored by rules that make the published number diverge from a simple percentage of the local median more often than people expect.
The three tiers that matter
Extremely low income is set at 30% of area median income, very low income at 50%, and low income at 80%, each adjusted for household size. The 50% tier is the primary eligibility threshold for the Housing Choice Voucher program, and federal rules require housing authorities to direct 75% of newly issued vouchers to households at or below the 30% tier.
That targeting rule is why a household can be technically income-eligible and still wait years: the queue is not first-come-first-served in the way most applicants assume.
30% of AMI — extremely low income; priority for new vouchers.
50% of AMI — very low income; the standard eligibility ceiling.
80% of AMI — low income; relevant to other HUD programs more than to vouchers.
Next step: Look up the three tiers See how the three tiers are set, how they interact with the tenant portion, and where households fall out of eligibility. Read the income limits guide
Why the published number may not match the local median
HUD applies adjustments that override the raw arithmetic. High-housing-cost areas receive an upward adjustment so limits track actual rents rather than local incomes. A national floor prevents very low-income counties from producing unusable limits, and year-over-year caps limit how fast a limit can move in either direction.
The practical consequence is that you cannot compute a limit yourself from a census median and expect to match HUD. Use the published table for the specific county and household size.
Next step: Compare with local rent data Where the published median looks off, the local FMR usually explains it. Look up FMR
What income counts
Eligibility uses annual gross income from all household members, including wages, self-employment, most benefits, and certain asset income. The tenant's rent share, by contrast, uses adjusted income after HUD deductions for dependents, elderly or disabled household status, unreimbursed medical expenses, and childcare needed to work. Confusing the two produces materially wrong estimates of what a household will pay.
Income is verified at admission and re-verified at each annual recertification, with interim recertifications when a household reports a change.
Next step: Apply income rules at screening Screening criteria, documentation and the paperwork that follows are covered step by step in the landlord playbook. Read the landlord playbook
Using these limits well
For applicants, the limit tells you whether it is worth joining a waiting list and which tier you fall into. For landlords, it tells you the income profile of the tenant pool in your market, which is the honest input to a screening income standard — applying a three-times-gross-rent rule to a program that houses households at 30% of median is a test the program's own participants cannot pass.
Next step: See the tenant payment effect Model how income changes the tenant share and the Housing Assistance Payment. Open the HAP simulator
Where every number on this page comes from
Rent figures are imported from the HUD User Fair Market Rent API (FY 2026 dataset, published September 1, 2025) and re-synced monthly. Our cached HUD tables were last synced August 1, 2026. Program rules are cited to the Code of Federal Regulations. Your PHA’s current payment standard and utility allowance are authoritative.
Key claims and figures on this page
FY 2026 income limits — Eligibility thresholds shown are HUD's published area income limits for the fiscal year. [Source 1: HUD Income Limits — FY 2026]
Adjusted income — Tenant payment is computed from adjusted income, not the gross income used for eligibility. [Source 2: 24 CFR 5.628 — Total tenant payment]
FY 2026 FMR — Rent context on this page comes from the same HUD FMR dataset used sitewide. [Source 3: HUD Fair Market Rents — FY 2026]
Sources cited
HUD Income Limits — FY 2026 — Annual area median income and 30% / 50% / 80% limits used for voucher eligibility and targeting.
24 CFR 5.628 — Total tenant payment — Total tenant payment is the highest of 30% of monthly adjusted income, 10% of monthly gross income, or the applicable minimum rent.
HUD Fair Market Rents — FY 2026 — Published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FMRs represent the 40th percentile of gross rents for standard-quality units.
HUD User FMR API — Machine-readable source used to import and refresh the figures cached on this site.
Section8Max methodology — Our published formulas, default assumptions, and refresh cadence for every calculator on this site.
Section8Max is not HUD, a Public Housing Authority, a law firm, or a tax advisor. If a figure or citation here looks wrong, email team@section8max.com and we will correct the page and update its review date.