What Qualifies as Low Income? Poverty Line, HUD Limits, and Assets

There is no single income figure that qualifies you as low income across the federal government. The answer depends on which program is asking, how many people live in your household, and, for housing assistance, where you live. The federal poverty guideline for a single person in 2026 is $15,960, but most assistance programs draw their eligibility lines well above that, often at 130%, 138%, 150%, or 200% of the poverty level.¹ The Department of Housing and Urban Development uses an entirely different measure tied to local wages, which means someone earning $60,000 can qualify as low income in an expensive metro and sit well above the cutoff in a rural county.

The Federal Poverty Guideline Is the Starting Number

Every January, the Department of Health and Human Services publishes updated poverty guidelines based on changes to the Consumer Price Index. For the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the 2026 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

For each additional person beyond eight, add $5,680.¹

Alaska and Hawaii have separate, higher guidelines because living costs there have historically outpaced the rest of the country. A single person in Alaska has a poverty guideline of $19,950, and in Hawaii the figure is $18,360.¹

Very few programs use the poverty line itself as the cutoff. Instead, they set eligibility at a multiple of it. A single person at 200% of poverty in 2026 has an income of $31,920. The multiple you need to clear depends entirely on which program you’re applying to.

Program-by-Program Income Cutoffs

You can qualify for one federal program and be denied by another on the exact same paycheck. Here’s where the major programs draw the line:

Medicaid in the 41 states that adopted expansion covers adults with household income up to 138% of the poverty guideline, or roughly $22,025 per year for a single person in 2026. The 10 non-expansion states set much lower limits for non-disabled adults.²
SNAP requires gross household income at or below 130% of poverty and net income (after certain deductions) at or below 100%. For a family of four, those work out to $3,483 and $2,680 per month.³
LIHEAP energy assistance caps federal eligibility at 150% of poverty or 60% of a state’s median income, whichever is higher. States can’t set the floor below 110% of poverty.⁴
ACA marketplace premium tax credits are generally available to households earning between 100% and 400% of poverty.
Free civil legal aid through Legal Services Corporation programs is available at 125% of poverty, which comes to $19,950 for one person or $41,250 for a family of four. Some situations, including help maintaining government benefits, allow the ceiling to extend to 200% of poverty.⁵

Because these ceilings move with the poverty guidelines each year, you may need to reverify eligibility annually even when nothing in your life has changed. A small cost-of-living raise at work can push you past a threshold that shifted by less.

HUD Uses Local Income, Not the Poverty Line

Housing assistance runs on a completely separate system. Instead of comparing your income to a national poverty figure, HUD compares it to what people earn in your specific area. HUD calculates the median family income for every metropolitan area and rural county, then sorts applicants into tiers based on where they fall against that local number.

Federal housing law recognizes three categories:

Low income: household income at or below 80% of area median income.
Very low income: at or below 50% of area median income.
Extremely low income: at or below the greater of 30% of area median income or the federal poverty guideline for that family size.⁶

These categories govern eligibility for Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, public housing, Section 202 housing for the elderly, and Section 811 housing for people with disabilities.⁷

The localized approach produces enormous variation. In a metro area with a median family income of $100,000, the low-income ceiling sits at $80,000. In a rural county with a median of $50,000, that same ceiling drops to $40,000. HUD publishes the exact income limits for each area every year, and you can look yours up through HUD’s online income calculator at hudexchange.info.

How Household Size Changes Your Number

Every threshold discussed here scales upward with household size. The poverty guideline for one person is $15,960, but for a family of four it’s $33,000.¹ Program multiples scale with it, so a family of four at 130% of poverty for SNAP has a gross ceiling of $3,483 per month, versus $1,696 for a single person.³

Who counts as part of the household is where applicants trip up. For HUD programs, the count generally includes everyone living in the unit, but live-in aides who provide essential care to elderly or disabled residents are excluded from both the household count and the income calculation. People who are permanently institutionalized or on active military duty are also excluded. Children temporarily placed in foster care remain part of the household for income-limit purposes.⁸ Other programs define the household differently, so check the specific rules before assuming everyone under your roof gets counted.

What Counts as Income

Before any percentage calculation happens, the agency has to decide what money to add up. Most programs start with gross income, meaning earnings before taxes and payroll deductions come out. SNAP then allows specific deductions for childcare, medical costs, and other items to reach a net figure, and you must clear both the gross and net thresholds to qualify.

HUD’s definition of annual income is particularly detailed. It counts wages, salaries, Social Security benefits, pensions, annuity payments, and net self-employment income from every household member age 18 or older. For self-employment, HUD uses net business income but does not allow deductions for business expansion or capital debt repayment. Straight-line depreciation on business assets is deductible.⁸

Some money is excluded across most programs. Non-cash benefits like SNAP allotments and energy subsidies generally don’t count as income. Under HUD rules, earned income from children under 18 is excluded, as are lump-sum Social Security and SSI back payments. Earnings from certain HUD-funded or government employment training programs are also excluded while the participant is enrolled.⁸ Gig work, day labor, and seasonal earnings are counted even when they fluctuate; HUD does not treat variable income as nonrecurring.

Assets Can Disqualify You Even If Your Income Fits

For some programs, income is only half the picture. SNAP and Supplemental Security Income both impose asset limits, and you can be turned away even with qualifying income if your countable resources are too high.

SNAP for fiscal year 2026 sets the asset limit at $3,000 for most households and $4,500 for households that include someone 60 or older or a person with a disability. Many states have opted out of the federal asset test through broad-based categorical eligibility, so this limit doesn’t apply everywhere.³
SSI caps resources at $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. These figures have not been meaningfully updated in decades.⁹

Countable resources typically include bank accounts, stocks, and bonds. Your home, one vehicle, household goods, and burial funds up to a set amount are usually excluded. The details vary by program, and the line between countable and exempt assets is one of the most common reasons applications get delayed or denied.

Most other programs on this page, including Medicaid for expansion-group adults, ACA subsidies, and LIHEAP, have no asset test at all. If you’ve been told you earn too much for a program, ask which specific figure was used, how your household was counted, and whether any of your income should have been excluded. Any of those three variables can move you from ineligible to eligible.

1
Federal Register. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines
2
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines Detailed Tables
3
USDA Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustments
4
Administration for Children and Families. LIHEAP Income Eligibility for States and Territories
5
eCFR. Title 45 Part 1611 – Financial Eligibility
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1437a – Rental Payments
7
HUD User. Methodology for Calculating FY 2025 Medians
8
eCFR. 24 CFR 5.609 – Annual Income
9
Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment Fact Sheet