HUD Income Limits, Explained
Almost every federal rental assistance program ties eligibility to a percentage of Area Median Income (AMI). This hub explains how that number is built, what the three tiers mean, and links to a dedicated page for every state and every household size.
No personal info collected — your selection just routes you to the right page.
What is "Area Median Income"?
Area Median Income is the household income at the exact 50th percentile in a given metropolitan area or non-metropolitan county. HUD publishes a fresh AMI table for every U.S. metro and county each year, derived from American Community Survey income data and adjusted for family size, regional cost-of-living, and HUD's policy floors and caps. The 4-person household figure is the anchor; figures for other family sizes are scaled from it.
AMI varies enormously by location. In Mississippi the 4-person median is around $68,000; in the San Francisco metro it exceeds $160,000. That gap is the reason HUD's program rules use percentages of AMI rather than dollar amounts — a household earning $40,000 in San Francisco is "very low income" for housing purposes, while the same income in Mississippi is well above the local median.
The three tiers
HUD's income tiers are calculated as fixed percentages of the local AMI:
- 30% AMI Extremely Low Income — the qualifier for almost every priority program: Emergency Housing Vouchers, permanent supportive housing through Continuum of Care, Section 811. Most PHAs are required to admit at least 75% of their new Section 8 voucher holders from this tier.
- 50% AMI Very Low Income — the eligibility ceiling for Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and most project-based Section 8 properties.
- 80% AMI Low Income — the ceiling for Public Housing, HOME-funded units, and many state-funded programs.
LIHTC properties (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) use either a 50% or 60% AMI ceiling, set at the building level when the developer claims the credit. A building can also use HUD's "Income Averaging" rule, which lets it mix units at 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80% AMI as long as the average across all units stays at or below 60% AMI.
How family size adjusts the limit
The 4-person AMI is the anchor. HUD scales it for other household sizes using fixed factors: 70% of the 4-person figure for a 1-person household, 80% for 2 people, 90% for 3 people, 108% for 5 people, 116% for 6 people, 124% for 7 people, and 132% for 8 people. Larger households are extrapolated by adding 8 percentage points per additional person. We've built a dedicated page for each family size:
- Family of 1 income limits
- Family of 2 income limits
- Family of 3 income limits
- Family of 4 income limits
- Family of 5 income limits
- Family of 6 income limits
- Family of 7 income limits
- Family of 8 income limits
State-by-state ceiling (4-person)
The table below shows the approximate state-level Area Median Income for a 4-person household and the resulting income ceiling at each tier. Click any state to open the full income-limit grid for that state, with all 8 household sizes broken out.
| State | AMI (4‑person) | 30% AMI | 50% AMI | 80% AMI | By household size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $119,000 | $35,700 | $59,500 | $95,200 | Massachusetts table → |
| Maryland | $114,800 | $34,450 | $57,400 | $91,850 | Maryland table → |
| Virginia | $114,800 | $34,450 | $57,400 | $91,850 | Virginia table → |
| New Hampshire | $113,500 | $34,050 | $56,750 | $90,800 | New Hampshire table → |
| Hawaii | $110,900 | $33,250 | $55,450 | $88,700 | Hawaii table → |
| Minnesota | $110,800 | $33,250 | $55,400 | $88,650 | Minnesota table → |
| Delaware | $108,800 | $32,650 | $54,400 | $87,050 | Delaware table → |
| New Jersey | $108,800 | $32,650 | $54,400 | $87,050 | New Jersey table → |
| Washington | $108,200 | $32,450 | $54,100 | $86,550 | Washington table → |
| Alaska | $106,900 | $32,050 | $53,450 | $85,500 | Alaska table → |
| North Dakota | $105,000 | $31,500 | $52,500 | $84,000 | North Dakota table → |
| Utah | $104,900 | $31,450 | $52,450 | $83,900 | Utah table → |
| California | $104,500 | $31,350 | $52,250 | $83,600 | California table → |
| Connecticut | $104,500 | $31,350 | $52,250 | $83,600 | Connecticut table → |
| Rhode Island | $104,500 | $31,350 | $52,250 | $83,600 | Rhode Island table → |
| Colorado | $104,300 | $31,300 | $52,150 | $83,450 | Colorado table → |
| Vermont | $97,200 | $29,150 | $48,600 | $77,750 | Vermont table → |
| Illinois | $96,900 | $29,050 | $48,450 | $77,500 | Illinois table → |
| Wisconsin | $92,900 | $27,850 | $46,450 | $74,300 | Wisconsin table → |
| Iowa | $92,800 | $27,850 | $46,400 | $74,250 | Iowa table → |
| Oregon | $92,800 | $27,850 | $46,400 | $74,250 | Oregon table → |
| Wyoming | $92,800 | $27,850 | $46,400 | $74,250 | Wyoming table → |
| Nevada | $91,200 | $27,350 | $45,600 | $72,950 | Nevada table → |
| Nebraska | $91,100 | $27,350 | $45,550 | $72,900 | Nebraska table → |
| Maine | $89,500 | $26,850 | $44,750 | $71,600 | Maine table → |
| South Dakota | $89,500 | $26,850 | $44,750 | $71,600 | South Dakota table → |
| Kansas | $89,400 | $26,800 | $44,700 | $71,500 | Kansas table → |
| New York | $89,400 | $26,800 | $44,700 | $71,500 | New York table → |
| Pennsylvania | $89,400 | $26,800 | $44,700 | $71,500 | Pennsylvania table → |
| Montana | $87,900 | $26,350 | $43,950 | $70,300 | Montana table → |
| Texas | $87,800 | $26,350 | $43,900 | $70,250 | Texas table → |
| Arizona | $87,100 | $26,150 | $43,550 | $69,700 | Arizona table → |
| Idaho | $87,100 | $26,150 | $43,550 | $69,700 | Idaho table → |
| Indiana | $85,100 | $25,550 | $42,550 | $68,100 | Indiana table → |
| Michigan | $84,300 | $25,300 | $42,150 | $67,450 | Michigan table → |
| Missouri | $83,400 | $25,000 | $41,700 | $66,700 | Missouri table → |
| Ohio | $83,400 | $25,000 | $41,700 | $66,700 | Ohio table → |
| Tennessee | $83,400 | $25,000 | $41,700 | $66,700 | Tennessee table → |
| Georgia | $83,100 | $24,950 | $41,550 | $66,500 | Georgia table → |
| South Carolina | $82,500 | $24,750 | $41,250 | $66,000 | South Carolina table → |
| North Carolina | $82,100 | $24,650 | $41,050 | $65,700 | North Carolina table → |
| Florida | $78,600 | $23,600 | $39,300 | $62,900 | Florida table → |
| Oklahoma | $78,500 | $23,550 | $39,250 | $62,800 | Oklahoma table → |
| Alabama | $76,900 | $23,050 | $38,450 | $61,500 | Alabama table → |
| Kentucky | $76,900 | $23,050 | $38,450 | $61,500 | Kentucky table → |
| Louisiana | $74,600 | $22,400 | $37,300 | $59,700 | Louisiana table → |
| New Mexico | $71,800 | $21,550 | $35,900 | $57,450 | New Mexico table → |
| Arkansas | $71,300 | $21,400 | $35,650 | $57,050 | Arkansas table → |
| West Virginia | $71,300 | $21,400 | $35,650 | $57,050 | West Virginia table → |
| Mississippi | $67,900 | $20,350 | $33,950 | $54,300 | Mississippi table → |
What counts as "income"
HUD counts almost every dollar that comes into the household: wages and salaries, self-employment income, Social Security benefits, SSI, SSDI, pensions, child support and alimony actually received, regular cash gifts from people outside the household, regular cash withdrawals from a business, and asset income (interest, dividends, rental income, the imputed return on assets above $50,000).
HUD does not count: most one-time payments (lottery winnings, tax refunds, casualty insurance proceeds), income of a live-in aide, earnings of household members under 18, the first $480 of any earned income from a household member who is a full-time student over 18, food stamps (SNAP), and most disability-related deductions. A standard $480-per-dependent deduction and a $525 elderly/disabled household deduction also lower "adjusted income" — the figure that determines your monthly rent share.
What you do next
Use the income calculator for a personalized AMI-tier check, then open your state's income-limit page for the per-household-size detail and the largest local PHAs. If you're in immediate need, see the how to apply walkthrough and about waiting lists for the practical steps. Confirm the current published figures on HUD User's Income Limits dataset before you apply.