Low-income apartments in Jacksonville: how to find and apply

To find low-income apartments in Jacksonville, Florida, call the five apartment buildings where Jacksonville Housing, the city's housing office, lowers the rent to about 30% of your income. Ask each one whether it has a free apartment. Also watch for Jacksonville Housing to open its waitlists, the lines you join for public housing and Section 8 vouchers.

Who runs low-income housing in Jacksonville?

Jacksonville Housing, the housing authority (the local housing office) for Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties, runs most of it. Owners of income-restricted buildings run the rest, each with its own list:

To see which Florida lists are taking names today, check our Florida waitlists page. To ask Jacksonville Housing directly, call its main line at (904) 630-3810, or its applications line at (904) 552-5952.

How do project-based voucher apartments work in Jacksonville?

A project-based voucher lowers the rent on one apartment in a particular building, and you get it by applying to that building. Jacksonville Housing's steps are: pick a building from its list and call it. If the manager has a free apartment and approves your application, the manager contacts Jacksonville Housing. Jacksonville Housing checks that you qualify and gives you a certificate that lets you move in at the lower rent. You then pay about 30% of your income in rent.

If you move out in your first year, you lose the lower rent and get nothing to take with you. After a year, federal rules let you ask Jacksonville Housing for a voucher you can take to a home you choose; ask before you give notice.

Call these five buildings and ask whether an apartment is free:

• Brentwood Lake Apartments, 761 Village Center Drive N., 904-353-1338, two and three bedrooms
• Caroline Arms, 6457 Ft. Caroline, 904-744-2966, two to four bedrooms
• Cathedral Townhouse Apartments, 501 North Ocean Street, 904-798-5377
• Oak Hammock Apartments, 500 Acme Street, 904-855-0730, two and three bedrooms
• Senior Citizen Village, 801 West 4th Street, 904-359-0907, one and two bedrooms, for people who are elderly or have a disability

How does Jacksonville Housing's public housing work?

When the public housing list is open, you fill in a pre-application at Jacksonville Housing's Public Housing Applications Department, 1300 N. Broad Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring copies of a government photo ID and Social Security card for every adult in your household. After you apply, Jacksonville Housing's process runs in four steps:

1. You join the list in order of the date you applied, any preference you have, a reason to be placed ahead of others, the bedroom size you need and any accessibility needs.
2. You are picked when apartments come free. Jacksonville Housing picks several families at once from the top of the list, and it picks faster when many apartments are empty.
3. It screens you, checking criminal history for the past five years, your rental history including evictions, and landlord references.
4. It offers you a choice of two communities. You pick one, and its manager interviews you.

A preference moves you ahead of others on the list. Jacksonville Housing gives one to working families, people who can prove they survived domestic violence, people forced out of their home by government action, and veterans. It picks two working families for every family without work. A family counts as working if the head or spouse has worked at least 30 hours a week for six months. It also counts if the head or spouse is 62 or older or has a disability.

The average wait is 3 to 5 years for one or two bedrooms and 1 to 3 years for three bedrooms. It is 3 to 5 years for four or five bedrooms and 5 years for a high-rise studio. Jacksonville Housing sends every notice by mail, so report a new address, household member or income in writing.

Your rent is usually 30% of your monthly income after set deductions. The exact rule is the highest of three amounts: that 30%, 10% of your monthly income before deductions, or a $50 minimum rent.

What are the 2026 income limits in Jacksonville?

To get a Section 8 voucher in Jacksonville, most households' yearly income before taxes must be at or under the very low income limit, $54,350 for four people in 2026. An income limit is the most a household can earn and still qualify. 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 Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, and the 2026 limits took effect May 1, 2026:

For Jacksonville Housing public housing, your income must be at or under its own limits, listed on its public housing questions page: $42,000 for one person and $60,000 for four. They are lower than HUD's low limit. Income-restricted buildings post their own charts.

The extremely low limit is 60% of the very low limit, or the federal poverty guideline if that is higher. For four people, the poverty guideline of $33,000 is the higher one. 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.

Where else can you look in Jacksonville?

• Florida's rental search. Florida's free rental search site, run for the state, lists affordable, accessible and regular apartments. For help searching, call 1-877-428-8844, weekdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Income-restricted buildings. Call each building's office, ask whether its waitlist is open and ask for its income chart.
• Vouchers for certain groups. Jacksonville Housing also has vouchers for young people leaving foster care, referred by child welfare agencies, and for veterans who are homeless, referred by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Emergency help. If you have nowhere to stay, call 2-1-1, a free helpline.

How do you spot a housing scam?

A housing office can't charge you to apply for public housing or a Section 8 voucher. HUD's inspector general warns about fake waitlist posts on social media, so check any opening on Jacksonville Housing's own website or by phone. The Federal Trade Commission warns that fake rental ads rush you and ask for a wire transfer or gift card. Before you pay anything, search the owner's name with words like "scam" or "complaint", and see the home in person if you can.

What should you do next?

Call the five project-based voucher buildings today and ask whether any has a free apartment. Then check which Florida lists are open and see the Florida listings you can apply for now. Our qualify check shows which listings fit your household's size and income. Before a list opens, gather your application documents, and if you get a project-based apartment, learn your rights when you move.