Low income apartments in Los Angeles: waitlists and how to apply

To rent one of the low income apartments in Los Angeles, apply building by building. Each building keeps its own waitlist, a line you join now for an apartment that comes free later. On the city's Access Housing LA site, filter by your income and household size, then apply to every list that fits. One application doesn't cover them all.

What kinds of low income apartments does Los Angeles have?

Los Angeles has three kinds, and each has its own list. Many private and nonprofit buildings rent some apartments at lower rents. A Section 8 voucher means the housing office pays part of the rent on an apartment you find yourself, with a landlord who accepts it. Public housing is an apartment where the housing office is your landlord.

The city's housing department doesn't own or manage rental buildings. Inside the city, vouchers and public housing are run by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, the city's housing authority (the local housing office).

Elsewhere in the county, the Los Angeles County Development Authority is the county's housing office. It runs vouchers and public housing for the areas outside any city and for 62 cities that have no housing office of their own. Eighteen cities, including Long Beach and Pasadena, have their own. Apply to the office for the city where you want to live.

Which lists are open?

To see which voucher and public housing lists are taking names today, check our California waitlists page. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Development Authority also post their own list news. For building lists, see Los Angeles listings and Access Housing LA.

Building lists fill apartments in one of three ways, and each listing says which:

• Waitlist: you join now, and the building offers you an apartment when your name comes up.
• Lottery: applications go into a random order after the deadline, so applying early gives you no better chance.
• First come, first served: the building looks at the earliest qualified applicants first.

Two more places list lower-rent apartments: West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation and Santa Monica's Below Market Housing waitlist, which gives priority to people who live or work in Santa Monica. Ask the building for the rent before you apply.

What are the 2026 income limits for Los Angeles County?

An income limit is the most your household can earn in a year and still rent a particular apartment. In Los Angeles, 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 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal housing department, sets the 2026 median family income for Los Angeles County at $108,100.

HUD raises limits where housing costs are high, so the 50% limit for four people is $83,300, not half of $108,100. Use the number in the table, not one you work out.

The 30%, 50% and 80% columns are HUD's 2026 income limits, and the 60% column is from HUD's limits for tax-credit buildings. Which column applies depends on the apartment:

• A Section 8 voucher generally needs an income at or under the 50% limit, under the federal voucher rule.
• Public housing takes households up to the 80% limit, under the federal public housing rule.
• A building's lower-rent apartments each have a level, often 30%, 50% or 60%. A tax-credit building, which gets a federal tax break for lower rents, uses the 60% column or lower. The listing names each apartment's level.

A worked example. A household of three earns $70,000 a year. That is over the 30% limit of $45,000 and under the 50% limit of $74,950. So it fits apartments set at 50% or higher, and it is under the Section 8 income limit. 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 to a building waitlist?

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. Search by your income and household size on Access Housing LA.
3. Read each listing before you apply. It names the income levels, who the apartments are for and how to apply.
4. Apply the way the listing says. Some take online applications. Others want mail, email or a visit.
5. Keep your details current. Update your phone number and email on every list, and answer every letter by its deadline, or the building can take you off its list.

Our guide to how to apply for affordable housing lists the documents to gather.

How do you get an accessible apartment?

An accessible apartment has features for people with disabilities. In buildings the city helped pay for, the city's housing department sets aside two kinds, says its page on accessible rental housing:

• Mobility apartments have wider doorways, room to turn a wheelchair and lower kitchen counters.
• Hearing and vision apartments have emergency lights in addition to the usual door buzzer and fire alarm. Buildings with these apartments also have braille floor numbers in the elevators.

You can rent one if someone in your household needs its features, says the city's guidance for building owners. If the need is obvious, such as a wheelchair user asking for a mobility apartment, the building can't ask for more. If it isn't obvious, the building can ask for a short letter from someone who knows your needs, such as a doctor, a caregiver or a service provider. It can't ask for your diagnosis or medical records.

To apply, search Access Housing LA and join the accessible-apartment waitlists. For help, call the city's Accessible Housing Program at (213) 808-8550 or email lahd.achp@lacity.org.

How do you avoid fees and fake sites?

A housing office can't charge you to apply for a Section 8 voucher or public housing. A privately owned building may charge a fee for an application or a credit check, so ask the amount before you pay.

• Never pay anyone to put you on a housing office's list or move you up. HUD's inspector general warns that fake waitlist announcements spread on social media.
• Call the number on the housing office's own website, and don't answer a social media ad.
• Walk away from anyone who wants a wire transfer or gift cards, or who pushes you to decide fast. The Federal Trade Commission lists these as signs of a fake rental ad.

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

What should you do next?

Apply to every building list on Access Housing LA that fits your income and household size. For a Section 8 voucher, apply whenever the housing office for the city where you want to live opens its list. Inside the city, that is the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. In most other parts of the county, it is the Los Angeles County Development Authority. Our guide to finding an open Section 8 waitlist explains how voucher lists open and close.