HUD income limits are the maximum gross annual earnings a household can have and still qualify for federal housing assistance, including public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8). For fiscal year 2026, the national median family income HUD uses as its baseline is $106,800, and the actual limit for your household is derived from that figure after adjustments for where you live and how many people live with you.1HUD User. FY 2026 Income Limits Transmittal Notice HUD recalculates the numbers every year, so your eligibility can shift even when your paycheck doesn’t.
The Three Income Tiers
Federal law sorts eligibility into three brackets, each set as a percentage of the area median income (AMI) for your county or metropolitan area.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1437a – Rental Payments
- Extremely low-income: no more than the greater of 30% of AMI or the federal poverty guideline for your family size. The poverty guideline acts as a floor so families in low-wage areas aren’t shut out of the lowest tier. Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are excluded from the poverty guideline adjustment.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1437a – Rental Payments
- Very low-income: no more than 50% of AMI.
- Low-income: no more than 80% of AMI. This is the ceiling for the Housing Choice Voucher program and most public housing.
The tier you land in matters beyond simple yes-or-no eligibility. Federal rules require a large share of new voucher admissions to go to extremely low-income families, so applicants in that bracket generally move through waitlists faster. A household at the low-income ceiling may qualify on paper but wait far longer because it receives lower priority.
How HUD Sets the Number for Your Area
There is no single national income limit. HUD calculates a separate median family income for each metropolitan area and non-metropolitan county. For FY 2026, HUD started with median family income data from the 2024 American Community Survey and then applied an inflation factor of roughly 5.5% to project forward, based on Congressional Budget Office wage growth estimates.1HUD User. FY 2026 Income Limits Transmittal Notice
Several adjustments keep the raw math sensible. In areas where housing costs are unusually high compared to local wages, HUD pushes the limits upward so working families aren’t disqualified because of where they live. At the same time, no area’s four-person income limit can exceed the national median of $106,800 unless high housing costs justify the exception. Annual increases are also capped at 10%, which prevents a single year of unusual wage growth from dramatically shifting who qualifies.
For counties outside metropolitan areas, HUD compares the local median to the state’s overall non-metropolitan median and uses whichever figure is higher.3HUD User. Income Limits That floor keeps limits in sparsely populated counties from dropping so low that almost no one qualifies.
The extremely low-income tier has its own calculation. HUD first computes 60% of the very low-income limit (which works out to 30% of AMI), compares it to the federal poverty guideline for the same family size, and uses the higher of the two.
How Household Size Changes Your Limit
Every published income limit is anchored to a four-person family. HUD scales the number up or down for other household sizes. A single-person limit runs about 70% of the four-person figure, and larger families see progressively higher ceilings. The published tables cover one through eight people.
If your household has more than eight members, add 8% of the four-person limit for each person beyond eight. A nine-person household uses 140% of the four-person limit — that’s 132% for eight, plus 8% for the ninth.4HUD User. HOME Income Limits
Location produces equally dramatic swings. A household classified as extremely low-income in a high-cost metro could have an income ceiling two or three times higher than the same category in a low-cost rural region. There’s no single answer to “what’s the limit” without knowing both variables.
What Counts as Income
Your housing agency looks at anticipated annual income from all sources for every household member age 18 or older, plus any unearned income received on behalf of minors.5eCFR. 24 CFR 5.609 – Annual Income That’s broader than wages. Social Security benefits, pensions, alimony, recurring gifts, and investment returns all count. For court-ordered child support, only amounts actually being paid are counted; you can’t be penalized for payments a non-custodial parent refuses to send.
Several categories are excluded. Earned income from children under 18 doesn’t count. Neither do foster care payments, insurance settlements for personal injury or property loss, medical reimbursements, or most student financial aid. Distributions from Coverdell education savings accounts and 529 plans are also excluded. Families sometimes assume a one-time insurance payout or a teenager’s summer job will push them over the limit when those amounts aren’t counted at all.
Asset Limits Can Disqualify You Even If Your Income Fits
Income isn’t the only test. Under the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act, your household is ineligible for public housing or Housing Choice Vouchers if your net family assets exceed $105,574 for 2026.6HUD User. 2026 HUD Inflation-Adjusted Values and Passbook Savings Rate Net family assets include savings, stocks, bonds, and other investments at their cash value after subtracting selling costs. You’re also ineligible if you own real property suitable for your family to live in, with narrow exceptions for domestic violence survivors and property that can’t legally be sold.
Even if your assets fall under the disqualifying cap, they can affect the income calculation. When net family assets exceed $52,787, HUD requires your housing authority to impute income using a passbook savings rate of 0.40% for 2026. HUD assumes your assets are earning at least that rate and adds the hypothetical earnings to your annual income, even if your actual return is lower or zero. Below the $52,787 threshold, no imputed income is added when actual returns can’t be calculated.5eCFR. 24 CFR 5.609 – Annual Income
Looking Up Your County’s Numbers
The only official source for current limits is HUD’s Income Limits Documentation System, a free tool at huduser.gov. Select your state and county, pick fiscal year 2026, and the system displays a table with dollar limits for all three tiers across household sizes of one through eight.3HUD User. Income Limits FY 2026 limits were published on May 1, 2026.1HUD User. FY 2026 Income Limits Transmittal Notice
Compare your household’s anticipated gross annual income for the coming year against the limit for your family size and county. That comparison tells you both whether you qualify and which tier you fall into — the information that shapes waitlist priority and, eventually, your rent.
What Happens If Your Income Changes Later
Qualifying once doesn’t lock in your status. Your housing authority reexamines income at least once a year to recalculate rent. Most agencies start the process roughly 120 days before your anniversary date and expect documentation about 60 days before it.
Between annual reviews, the agency must conduct an interim reexamination if it learns your adjusted income has jumped by 10% or more.7eCFR. 24 CFR 960.257 – Family Income and Composition Reexaminations Increases in earned income are generally ignored for triggering that review unless the agency already processed a decrease during the same certification cycle, which protects families who find work from an immediate rent spike. Income drops work in your favor: you can request an interim reexamination any time your earnings fall, with no threshold or waiting period.
Public housing has one more rule worth knowing before you sign up. If your income rises above the over-income limit — 2.4 times the very low-income limit for your area, which effectively equals 120% of AMI — a 24-consecutive-month grace period starts during which your rent doesn’t change.8eCFR. 24 CFR 960.507 – Families Exceeding the Income Limit After those 24 months, the housing authority must either charge you the higher of fair market rent or the full cost of the subsidy, or terminate your tenancy within six months.9U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. PIH Notice 2023-03 – Over-Income Families in Public Housing Families approaching that threshold should understand their options well before the grace period runs out.