Income based apartments in Durham, North Carolina: how to apply

To rent one of the income based apartments in Durham, North Carolina, apply in person for public housing, apartments the housing office owns, at the community where you want to live. Then call nonprofit and tax-credit buildings and ask to join their waitlists, the lines you join now for an apartment that comes free later.

How do income-based apartments work in Durham?

An income-based apartment in Durham has one of two kinds of rent. Either the rent is about 30% of your income, or it is a lower set rent for households under an income limit, the most a household can earn and still qualify. The Durham Housing Authority and building owners run them, and each keeps its own lists:

A tax-credit building is a private building whose owner gets a federal tax break for keeping rents low. The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency pays toward many of these buildings, but private companies own and run them, so you apply at each building, not to the agency.

How do you apply for Durham Housing Authority public housing?

You apply for Durham public housing at the community where you want to live, because each community keeps its own waitlist at its management office. Find the offices on the housing office's communities map and fill in an application at each community you'd accept. The Durham Housing Authority then tells you if you are on the list.

When your name comes up, it invites you to an orientation. There you fill in the full application and bring a government photo ID, a birth certificate, a Social Security card and proof of income. Your rent is usually 30% of your income, and that 30% pays for your rent and utilities together. There can be a minimum rent for people with no income. While you wait, tell the housing office every time your address, income or household changes.

The Durham Housing Authority also has more than 300 apartments at Edgemont Elms, Morreene Road and Damar Court. These are Section 8 buildings: you pay about 30% of your income, and the government pays the rest of the rent. Find each one on the communities map and ask its management office about its waitlist. If you move out, you lose that lower rent, and the next tenant gets it. These communities rank applicants by the date and time they applied and the bedroom size they need.

How does the Durham Section 8 waitlist work?

The Durham Housing Authority opens its voucher waitlist from time to time, and you apply online while it is open. It tells you whether you were placed on the list. The average wait is about 24 months, depending on how many vouchers come free and how quickly you finish the eligibility steps. To see which North Carolina lists are taking names today, check our North Carolina waitlists page.

When your name comes up, you go to a required orientation, where the housing office checks your income and household. Once you have the voucher, you find a home, and you and the landlord fill in a request for tenancy approval. The housing office checks that the rent is similar to rents for comparable homes nearby and inspects the home before you sign the lease.

What are the 2026 income limits for Durham County?

For a Section 8 voucher in Durham, most households' yearly income before taxes must be at or under the very low limit, $63,550 for four people in 2026. Federal rules let a housing office admit some families up to the low limit under its own rules, so ask if your income is in between. HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sets these limits for Durham County, and the 2026 limits took effect May 1, 2026:

Public housing goes up to the low income limit. Tax-credit buildings usually set their apartments at 50% or 60% of the area median income, the middle income in the area. DHIC's Willard Street Apartments in downtown Durham, for example, has apartments at 30% and 60%.

The extremely low limit is 60% of the very low limit, or the federal poverty guideline if that is higher. Each year, at least 75% of the families a housing office newly gives vouchers to must be at or under the extremely low limit. So if your income is above it, expect a longer wait for a voucher.

Example. A household of three earns $52,000 a year. That is under the very low limit of $57,200, so it can apply for a voucher and for public housing. It also fits tax-credit apartments set at the very low limit or at the 60% tax-credit limit, which is 60% of the area median income.

How do you find nonprofit and tax-credit apartments in Durham?

1. Search North Carolina's housing search site, the free rental search the state housing finance agency points renters to, for lower-rent apartments in Durham.
2. Check DHIC's family housing page. DHIC says every one of its communities has income limits, most have a waitlist or no free apartments, and each leasing office runs its own list.
3. Call each leasing office. Ask whether its waitlist is open, what income limit its apartments use and what the application fee is.
4. Apply at every building that fits, and keep your phone number and address up to date with each one.

Before you call, gather the documents you'll need.

Can you buy an affordable home in Durham?

Yes, through Durham Community Land Trustees, a nonprofit that keeps the land and sells the house on it at a lower price. When you sell, the price stays affordable for the next buyer. Your household income must be at or under 80% of the area median income for Durham County: $71,200 for one person and $101,700 for four in 2026. The home must be your main home. Your first step is one of its homebuyer sessions, which explains how buying works and what down payment help you can get. Then see how land trust homes work before you buy.

How do you avoid fees and fake sites?

A housing office can't charge you to apply for public housing or a Section 8 voucher. A private building may charge an application fee, so ask what it is before you pay. Never pay anyone to put you on a list: HUD's inspector general warns about fake waitlist posts on social media. The Federal Trade Commission warns that fake rental ads rush you and ask for a wire transfer or gift card. Call the office at the number on its own website before you pay anything.

What should you do next?

Visit the management office of a public housing community you'd live in and fill in an application. Then call two or three nonprofit or tax-credit buildings. See the North Carolina listings you can apply for now on our North Carolina page, and use our qualify check to see which listings fit your household's size and income.