Chicago low income apartments: income limits and how to apply

Most Chicago low income apartments are reached through waitlists. A waitlist is a line you join now for an apartment that comes free later. Start with the lists of the Chicago Housing Authority, then add the lists of a few buildings near where you want to live. You can be on several lists at once.

What kinds of low-income apartments does Chicago have?

Chicago's low-income apartments come from three sources, and each one has its own way in.

The first source, the Chicago Housing Authority, is the city's housing authority (the local housing office). It keeps four separate waitlists, one for each kind of housing listed on its Help Center:

• Public housing: an apartment where the Chicago Housing Authority is your landlord.
• Housing Choice Vouchers: a voucher pays part of the rent on an apartment you find yourself, with any landlord who accepts it.
• Project-based vouchers: these lower the rent on one apartment in a privately owned building while you live there. You pay part of your income in rent, and the Chicago Housing Authority pays the owner the rest. After a year there, you can ask it for a voucher you can take to another apartment.
• Project-based rental assistance: a lower rent on an apartment in another approved building. You pay part of your income in rent, and a government contract with the owner pays the rest. If you move out, you lose the lower rent.

Which Chicago waitlists are open today?

The Chicago Housing Authority's four lists open and close on their own. To see which ones are taking names today, check its Help Center or our Illinois waitlists page. When its Housing Choice Voucher list opens, the agency says it will announce it publicly and hold a lottery, which puts every application in a random order. Applying on the first day gives you no better chance than applying on the last.

Expect a long wait. The Chicago Housing Authority says most of its waitlists are years long, often 10 years or more. Each page on its property list shows an estimated wait for each bedroom size, so compare buildings before you choose. Lists for buildings for older adults are usually much shorter than family lists. In the agency's waitlist report for the end of 2025, a typical list for older adults had about 200 to 240 names. A typical family list had about 1,100 to 1,600.

Outside the city, these offices and groups keep their own waitlists:

What are the 2026 income limits for Chicago?

An income limit is the most your household can earn in a year and still rent a particular apartment. In Chicago, limits are a percentage of the area median income, the middle income in the area: half of the families there earn more, and half earn less. The city's 2026 income chart gives these limits for total yearly household income before taxes:

Which column applies depends on the apartment:

• Chicago Housing Authority public housing uses the 80% column, its Help Center says.
• A Housing Choice Voucher generally needs an income at or under the 50% column, under the federal voucher rule.
• Project-based voucher buildings can set a different limit for each apartment, so read the building's own page.
• Tax-credit buildings usually use the 50% or 60% column, under the federal tax credit law.
• ARO apartments for rent are generally for households at or under 60%, says the city's ARO page.

A worked example. A household of three earns $50,000 a year. That is under the $87,500 limit for public housing and under the $54,700 limit for a 50% building, so this household fits both. It is over the $32,820 limit for a 30% apartment, so it does not fit those. To check your own household, try our qualify check. To see how much rent your income can carry, try our rent affordability calculator.

How do you apply for a low-income apartment in Chicago?

1. Add up your income. Count the yearly pay before taxes of every adult who will live with you, and count everyone in your household.
2. Pick the lists that fit. Use the Chicago Housing Authority's property list for its own homes. For other buildings, use the city's affordable rental housing list and the free Illinois rental search, which the state housing agency, the Illinois Housing Development Authority, points renters to. The agency's help line is 1-877-428-8844.
3. Apply to each list. For the Chicago Housing Authority, use its waitlist portal. For any other building, call or visit its office and ask to join its waitlist.
4. Get ready for the Chicago Housing Authority's checks. At least one household member must be a U.S. citizen or have eligible immigration status. When you reach the top of a list, it checks your criminal history, your record of paying rent and any money you owe it. You can ask for a preference, a rule that moves you up the list, if you are a veteran, have a disability, have survived domestic violence or are homeless.
5. Keep your details current. Update your phone number and address on every list, and answer every letter by its deadline, or the office can take you off the list.

For an ARO apartment, contact the building's property manager. The city's steps say the manager collects your pay stubs and bank statements and sends your file to the city to check. Our guide to how to apply for affordable housing lists the documents to gather.

How do you avoid fees and fake sites?

You never pay to join a Chicago Housing Authority list. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal housing department, bars housing offices from charging you to apply for public housing or a voucher. The Chicago Housing Authority's Help Center also warns about fake websites and flyers. A privately owned building may charge an application or screening fee, so ask the amount before you pay.

• Never pay anyone to put you on a list or move you up. HUD's inspector general warns that fake waitlist announcements spread on social media.
• Don't answer a social media ad. Call the number on the housing office's own website. The Chicago Housing Authority's Client Center is at 60 E. Van Buren Street, phone 312-742-8500.
• Walk away from anyone who wants a wire transfer, gift cards or cryptocurrency, or who rushes you to decide. The Federal Trade Commission lists these as signs of fake rental ads.

Our guide to housing lottery fees and scams shows more warning signs.

What should you do next?

Apply to the Chicago Housing Authority's open lists first. Then add a few buildings from the city's list, because each list you join is another chance at an apartment. See the open Chicago-area listings, and check what you may qualify for on our qualify page.