How to find your local housing authority and join its waitlist

A housing authority (the local housing office) is the government office that runs public housing, apartments it owns and rents out. It also runs Section 8 vouchers, which pay part of your rent at a private landlord. To find yours, open the list that HUD, the federal housing department, keeps for your state. Then call each office that covers a place you'd live.

What does a housing office do?

A housing office runs the federal rent programs in its city, county or region. Each one keeps its own waitlists, the lines of people waiting for an apartment or a voucher. Federal rules call it a public housing agency: a state, county, city or other government body allowed to build or run low-income housing. Its name may end in "Housing Authority", "Housing Commission" or something else.

How do you find your local housing office?

1. Open HUD's contact page for housing offices and pick your state. Each state opens a PDF list of every office, by city, with its phone, email and street address.
2. Write down every office that covers a place you would live, not only the nearest one.
3. Check the type on the list. "Combined" offices run both public housing and vouchers, "Section 8" offices run vouchers, and "Low-Rent" offices run public housing.
4. Open each office's own website or call it. Ask which waitlists are open and how it announces openings.

Each office updates its own entry, so a phone number can be out of date. If a call fails, search for the office's own website. If you still can't reach it, HUD says to contact your local HUD field office. HUD's Resource Locator finds the nearest one. You can also call HUD's public housing customer service center at (800) 955-2232.

Why can more than one housing office cover your address?

City, county and state offices often overlap. In Pittsburgh, for example, HUD's Pennsylvania list includes both the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Housing Authority, and each keeps its own lists. Some offices cover a whole region of several counties, so ask each one which areas it serves.

One office can also keep more than one list. HUD's rule says it must keep a single waitlist for its Section 8 vouchers, but it may keep a separate one for a county or a city. Public housing can have separate lists too, for example by bedroom size.

How do you read a waitlist notice?

A waitlist notice tells you where, when and how to apply, and who may apply. When a housing office opens its voucher list, it must announce it publicly in a local newspaper and other media.

After you apply, tell the office every time your address, phone number or household changes. HUD's rule lets an office take you off its list if you don't answer its letters.

Where do Native American households apply?

Native American households usually apply to their tribe's housing office, not a city or county housing office. Tribes run their own housing with a federal grant from HUD, so ask your tribe's housing office how to apply. HUD's Native American Programs offices page lists HUD's area offices for tribal housing.

Can you apply to more than one housing office?

Yes. HUD says waits are long, so you may need to join several voucher waitlists. You don't need to live where you apply. But if you lived elsewhere when you applied, the office may require you to live in its area for your first 12 months with the voucher.

A housing office can't charge you to apply for public housing or a voucher. The Federal Trade Commission warns that fake sign-up sites ask for fees and Social Security numbers, and that housing offices don't call or email to suggest you join a list. Keep a note of each list you join, with its contact details.

Where can you see which housing office lists are open?

Open our waitlists page to see which area-wide waitlists, lists for a whole city or county run by a housing office, are taking names today. HUD's state lists show every other office to call. Find Section 8 waitlists that are open, gather your papers with our Section 8 application checklist, and use our qualify check to see which listings fit your household's size and income.