The federal poverty level for 2026 starts at $15,960 in annual income for a single person and $33,000 for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines The Department of Health and Human Services publishes these figures each January, and federal programs use them as the yardstick for who qualifies for Medicaid, food assistance, marketplace health insurance subsidies, and dozens of other benefits. Most programs don’t cut off eligibility at the line itself. They set it at a multiple, like 130 or 200 percent, so households well above the raw poverty figure often still qualify.
2026 Poverty Guidelines by Household Size
For the 48 contiguous states and D.C., the 2026 annual income figures are:
- 1 person: $15,960
- 2 people: $21,640
- 3 people: $27,320
- 4 people: $33,000
- 5 people: $38,680
- 6 people: $44,360
- 7 people: $50,040
- 8 people: $55,720
- Each additional person: add $5,680
A family of four at 200 percent of the poverty line, for reference, earns up to $66,000 and could still qualify for certain health coverage programs.1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
Alaska and Hawaii
Both states have higher guidelines to reflect their steeper cost of living. In Alaska for 2026, a single person’s poverty line is $19,950 and a family of four is $41,250. In Hawaii, the figures are $18,360 for one person and $37,950 for a family of four.1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
U.S. Territories
HHS does not officially publish guidelines for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands. Each federal agency operating a program in those places decides whether to apply the contiguous-states figures or use its own approach.2U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Poverty Guidelines USCIS, for instance, applies the contiguous-states numbers to Puerto Rico and Guam.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Poverty Guidelines
How the Guidelines Get Set Each Year
Federal law requires the HHS Secretary to update the poverty guidelines at least once a year by multiplying the previous figures by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 9902 – Definitions The CPI-U tracks what urban households pay for housing, food, energy, transportation, and medical care. HHS publishes the updated numbers each January in the Federal Register.5Federal Register. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines (2026)
Guidelines vs. Census Poverty Thresholds
Two different federal poverty numbers exist. The Census Bureau publishes poverty thresholds broken down in detail by family composition and age, and uses them for statistical research on how many Americans live in poverty. The HHS poverty guidelines are a simplified, rounded version built for administrative use. When a benefits application mentions the “federal poverty level,” it means the HHS guidelines.6Federal Register. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines (2025) – Supplementary Information
What Counts as Income
The income concept behind the poverty measure is broad. It includes pre-tax money from almost every source: wages, salaries, self-employment earnings, unemployment compensation, Social Security, pension and retirement income, interest, dividends, rental income, alimony, child support, veterans’ payments, and workers’ compensation. Capital gains, noncash benefits like housing vouchers, and tax credits are excluded.7U.S. Census Bureau. How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty
Individual programs, though, often use their own income definitions. The ACA marketplace bases eligibility on modified adjusted gross income, which starts with your adjusted gross income on your tax return and adds back items like untaxed foreign income and tax-exempt interest.8HealthCare.gov. Federal Poverty Level (FPL) – Glossary SNAP has its own deductions for shelter costs and dependent care. The poverty guidelines are the yardstick; each program defines its own version of “income” to measure against it.
What Programs Do With the Numbers
Different programs plug the 2026 figures in at different multiples, so a household that earns too much for one benefit can still qualify for another.
SNAP
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program generally requires gross monthly income at or below 130 percent of the poverty guidelines. For a family of four in 2026, that’s roughly $42,900 per year. SNAP also applies a net income test after deductions for shelter costs, child care, and medical expenses for elderly or disabled household members.9Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
Medicaid
In states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, most non-disabled adults qualify with income up to 138 percent of the poverty guidelines. The statute sets the threshold at 133 percent, but a built-in 5 percent income disregard effectively raises it to 138 percent. For a single person in 2026, that’s about $22,025. States that did not expand often have far lower limits for adults without dependents, sometimes as low as 18 percent of the poverty line.
CHIP
The Children’s Health Insurance Program covers children in families earning too much for Medicaid but too little to afford private coverage. States must cover children up to at least 200 percent of the poverty guidelines or 50 percentage points above their 1997 Medicaid eligibility level, whichever is higher. Most states go further, with upper limits ranging from about 170 percent to 400 percent of the poverty level.10Medicaid.gov. CHIP Eligibility and Enrollment
LIHEAP
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps with heating and cooling bills. Federal law caps eligibility at 150 percent of the poverty guidelines or 60 percent of the state’s median income, whichever is higher, and states cannot set their cutoff below 110 percent of the poverty guidelines.11LIHEAP Clearinghouse. LIHEAP Income Eligibility for States and Territories
Head Start
Head Start serves children from birth through age five in families with income below 100 percent of the poverty guidelines. Homeless families, families receiving TANF or SSI, and foster children qualify automatically regardless of household income.12HeadStart.gov. Poverty Guidelines and Determining Eligibility for Participation in Head Start Programs
ACA Marketplace Subsidies Change in 2026
The federal poverty level drives a major change in health insurance costs starting this year. From 2021 through 2025, temporary rules removed the income cap on the premium tax credit, letting households above 400 percent of the poverty level qualify for marketplace subsidies. That expansion expires on January 1, 2026.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 36B – Refundable Credit for Coverage Under a Qualified Health Plan The original rule returns: only households between 100 and 400 percent of the poverty guidelines qualify. For a family of four in 2026, income above $132,000 means no credit at all.
Repayment gets tougher too. If you received advance premium tax credits based on an estimated income and your actual income comes in higher, you owe back the excess at tax time. For tax years after 2025, the caps on that repayment are gone. You repay the full amount regardless of size.14Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers on the Premium Tax Credit Estimating income accurately matters more than it did in the past few years, especially if you’re near the 400 percent line.
Getting Your Reported Income Wrong
Reporting income incorrectly on a benefits application carries different consequences depending on whether it was a mistake or deliberate.
An unintentional error typically results in an overpayment notice requiring you to repay benefits you should not have received. Agencies recover those funds by reducing your current monthly benefits or, if you’re no longer enrolled, by intercepting tax refunds or garnishing other income.
Deliberate fraud carries steeper penalties. Program-specific consequences include disqualification, often for a year on the first offense, two years on the second, and a permanent ban after a third violation. Beyond that, knowingly obtaining federal benefits through false statements can be prosecuted under federal law. If the amount involved exceeds $1,000, the offense carries a potential prison sentence of up to ten years; below $1,000, the maximum is one year.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 641 – Public Money, Property or Records An overpayment finding can follow you for years through tax intercepts and benefit reductions even without criminal charges.