The federal poverty level for one person in 2026 is $15,960 a year in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. Alaska sits higher at $19,950, and Hawaii at $18,360.1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines Detailed Tables The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishes these numbers each January, and federal and state programs use them (usually as a multiple, not the raw figure) to decide who qualifies for help with health insurance, food, energy bills, and cash assistance.
What Counts as Income
The measure looks at pre-tax cash income. That includes wages, salary, and self-employment earnings; Social Security, unemployment, and workers’ compensation; pensions and other retirement payments; interest, dividends, and income from estates or trusts; and regular cash payments like alimony.2U.S. Census Bureau. How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty
What isn’t counted: SNAP, housing subsidies, Medicaid, and other non-cash benefits are excluded, and so are capital gains. The idea is to capture the cash you actually have to spend, not the value of in-kind help.2U.S. Census Bureau. How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty
How Programs Use Multiples of the Poverty Level
Almost no program uses $15,960 as a hard cutoff. Instead, agencies set eligibility at some percentage of the federal poverty level. Working from the 2026 guideline for one person in the contiguous states, the common multiples come out to:
- 100% FPL: $15,960
- 130% FPL: $20,748
- 138% FPL: $22,025
- 150% FPL: $23,940
- 200% FPL: $31,920
- 400% FPL: $63,840
These are the figures that actually decide whether you qualify for a given program.
Health Coverage
Medicaid
In states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a single adult qualifies with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level. The statute sets it at 133%, but a built-in 5% income disregard pushes the effective limit to 138%.3HealthCare.gov. Medicaid Expansion and What It Means for You For a single person in the contiguous states in 2026, that works out to roughly $22,025 a year. States that haven’t expanded generally have much lower limits and restrict eligibility to specific categories like parents of minor children or people with disabilities.
ACA Marketplace Premium Tax Credits
Income between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level qualifies you for premium tax credits that lower the monthly cost of a Marketplace health plan.4HealthCare.gov. Federal Poverty Level For one person in the contiguous states, that’s $15,960 to $63,840 in 2026. The credit is applied to your premium each month rather than held until you file taxes.
Medicare Savings Programs
If you’re on Medicare, the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program can pay your Part A and Part B premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance. For 2026, a single person qualifies with monthly income under $1,350 and countable resources at or below $9,950.5Medicare.gov. Medicare Savings Programs Some states set their limits higher, so it’s worth applying even if you’re slightly over.
SNAP Food Assistance
Most households qualify for SNAP with gross monthly income at or below 130% of the poverty guidelines. For a single person in 2026 that’s $20,748 a year, or $1,729 a month. There’s also a net income test after allowed deductions, plus a resource limit of $3,000 in countable assets like cash and bank balances. The resource limit rises to $4,500 if you’re 60 or older or have a disability.6Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
Many states have adopted broad-based categorical eligibility, which can raise or eliminate the asset test. Access varies by state even though the federal percentages don’t.
Energy Bill Help
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps pay heating and cooling bills. Federal law sets the ceiling at 150% of the poverty guidelines or 60% of state median income, whichever is higher, and states can’t set their limit below 110% of the guidelines.7The LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Eligibility At 150% FPL, a single person in the contiguous states qualifies with income up to $23,940 in 2026.
The Earned Income Tax Credit
The EITC doesn’t formally reference the poverty guidelines, but its limits sit in the same range. For 2026, a single filer with no qualifying children can claim the credit with adjusted gross income up to $19,540, roughly 122% of the poverty guideline for one person. The credit is refundable, so you get it even if you owe no federal income tax. People near the poverty line commonly miss out simply by not filing a return.
SSI and the Asset Trap
Supplemental Security Income pays monthly cash benefits to people who are aged, blind, or disabled and have very limited income and resources. The resource limit for a single recipient is $2,000 in countable assets.8Social Security Administration. SSI Resources Your home and one vehicle typically don’t count, but bank balances, cash, and most other financial assets do. This resource test is separate from and much stricter than the income-based poverty guidelines, and it catches people off guard: you can meet the income rules and still be disqualified because you have $2,500 in savings. The $2,000 limit has not been adjusted for inflation in decades.
Guidelines vs. Thresholds: Don’t Mix Them Up
Two different sets of poverty numbers appear in federal policy. The poverty guidelines from HHS are what programs use to decide eligibility. The poverty thresholds from the Census Bureau are used for statistical purposes, like counting how many people live in poverty each year, and they vary by age and family composition in ways the guidelines don’t.2U.S. Census Bureau. How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty HHS itself notes that its guideline figures are not the numbers the Census Bureau uses to count people in poverty.9U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior HHS Poverty Guidelines and Federal Register References When a program says “income below 150% of the federal poverty level,” it means the HHS guidelines.