HUD income limits 2026: how to look up yours

HUD income limits for 2026 took effect on May 1, 2026. An income limit is the most your household can earn in a year and still qualify. HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is the federal housing department. It sets income limits for every county and metro area at three levels: 30%, 50% and 80%. To find yours, open HUD's income limits page and read the 2026 row for your county and household size.

The building or housing office you apply to decides which of the three levels it uses.

What are HUD income limits used for?

HUD income limits decide who can get into housing that HUD helps pay for. That includes public housing, apartments the local housing office owns, and the Section 8 voucher, which pays part of your rent on an apartment you choose. It also covers Section 8 buildings, Section 811 buildings for people with disabilities, and Section 202 buildings for people 62 or older, explained in our Section 202 guide.

Each limit starts from the median family income HUD works out for the area: the middle income, where half of families earn more and half earn less. Listings usually call it the area median income. HUD works it out from the Census Bureau's survey data, as its 2026 notice explains.

Your household's income must be at or below the limit. HUD counts income before taxes: what everyone in the household expects to receive over the next 12 months. Our guide to qualifying for affordable housing shows what counts.

What are the three income levels?

Federal law sets three income levels, and HUD publishes a dollar amount for each one.

The 50% level matters most for vouchers: to get a Section 8 voucher, your income generally must be at or under it. The 30% level matters too. A housing office gives out vouchers to people on its waitlist, the line of people waiting for one. Each year, at least 75% of the families it newly admits must have extremely low incomes. Our Section 8 income limits guide explains both rules.

HUD's limits are often not a plain share of the median. HUD raises them where rents are high compared with incomes. It never sets a 50% limit below half of the state's median income outside metro areas. And it limits how much a limit can change in one year. A limit can fall by up to 5% a year, and for 2026 it can rise by up to 10%.

How do you look up your area?

1. Open HUD's income limits page and go to the 2026 section.
2. Open the Section 8 tables, either the PDF sorted by state or the spreadsheet.
3. Find your county or metro area. Some counties are grouped into one metro area, so look for the area name that includes your county.
4. Read the row for your household size. The tables go from one to eight people.

HUD's lookup tool also lets you pick a state and county and shows how each number was worked out.

How does household size change the limit?

HUD works out the four-person limit first, then sets the others as a share of it. Smaller households get a lower limit, and larger ones a higher limit:

HUD rounds each result up to the nearest $50. It rounds down instead when rounding up would push the yearly change past HUD's 10% limit for 2026. For example, the four-person 50% limit in Hennepin County, Minnesota is $65,750. For one person it is 70% of that, $46,025, rounded up to $46,050. The 30% level is 60% of the 50% limit. But HUD uses the federal poverty guideline instead when that is higher, so it doesn't always match these shares.

Hennepin County, Minnesota (the Minneapolis-St. Paul area), 2026, from HUD's spreadsheet and tax credit table:

Why is a limit not always half the median?

A 50% limit is often higher or lower than half the median because of HUD's adjustments. Four-person limits for 2026:

• Hennepin County: the 50% limit is exactly half the median. It went down from $66,200 in HUD's 2025 file, which shows that limits can fall.
• Los Angeles County: the limit is far above half the median ($54,050), because rents there are high compared with incomes. It rose from $75,750 in 2025, about 10%, the most HUD allowed for 2026. Its 30% limit, $50,000, is 60% of $83,300, not 30% of the median.
• Itasca County: the limit is above half its median ($46,450), because HUD never sets it below half of Minnesota's rural median of $98,000, shown in HUD's state table. Its 30% limit, $33,000, is the federal poverty guideline for four people, which is higher than 60% of $49,000.

So don't work out a limit from a median yourself. Read the number in HUD's table, for the year your application uses.

Which table do tax credit apartments use?

A tax credit building uses HUD's separate Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project table, not the Section 8 table. It is a privately owned building that got federal tax credits to build or repair it. In return, it keeps rents lower for households under its income limit.

The tax credit table's 50% limit is the same as HUD's Section 8 50% limit. Its 60% limit is that figure times 1.2, and most tax credit apartments use it. In older buildings, the tax credit limit can't go down: it stays at the highest level the building has reached. In Hennepin County, for example, some older tax credit buildings can use $79,440 for four people at 60%. So a tax credit building can use a higher number than the 2026 table, and its own chart is the one that counts.

A worked example. A household of three in Hennepin County earns $62,000 a year:

• It is over the 50% limit of $59,200, so it is likely too high for a Section 8 voucher.
• It is under the 80% limit of $94,700, so it can qualify for housing that uses the 80% level.
• It is under the 60% tax credit limit of $71,040, so it can qualify for a tax credit apartment set at 60%.

Our tax credit apartments guide explains how those buildings pick tenants.

Why does a listing show a different number?

A listing shows the table its building or housing office uses. That can be HUD's current table, an older year, a tax credit table, or a city, state or developer chart. For example, a home for sale may use HUD's 80% column, and a tax credit apartment the 60% tax credit table. Always read the listing's own chart, and check which year it is for.

What should you do next?

Look up your area in HUD's table, then compare your household's yearly income before taxes with the limit for your household size. Our qualify check does this for you against each open listing's own limit, and you can browse open listings or the Minnesota and Los Angeles pages. For the final answer, ask the building or housing office which table and year it uses.