Public housing vs Section 8: the difference, side by side

Public housing vs Section 8 comes down to who owns your home. In public housing, the local housing office owns the apartment and is your landlord. A Section 8 voucher pays part of your rent at a private landlord you choose, and you can usually take it with you when you move. If you leave public housing, you give up the apartment.

What is the difference between public housing and Section 8?

Public housing is an apartment the housing office owns, and a Section 8 voucher pays part of your rent at a private landlord's home. HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, pays for both, and your local housing office runs them. "Section 8" can also mean a Section 8 building, a private building where HUD pays part of the rent for certain apartments.

HUD sets three income levels for each area and household size:

• Low income: about 80% of the area's middle income.
• Very low income: about 50%.
• Extremely low income: 60% of the very low limit, or the federal poverty guideline if that is higher.

How is rent set in each?

Both start from the same base payment, usually 30% of your monthly adjusted income, your income after set deductions. Take a household with $1,800 a month in adjusted income: its base payment is $540.

• Public housing. You pay about $540 a month, less an amount for utilities if you pay them yourself. Once a year, the housing office must also let you choose a flat rent instead. A flat rent is a set amount for your apartment, at least 80% of HUD's fair market rent for the area. It can be cheaper for a household whose income has gone up.
• Voucher. The housing office sets a voucher limit, officially the payment standard, for each home size. It is the highest rent plus utilities a home can have while you pay only your $540. If the home costs more, you pay the extra too. When you first rent the home, your share can't be more than 40% of your adjusted income, or $720 in this example.

How do the waitlists differ?

The biggest difference between the waitlists, lines of people waiting for an apartment or a voucher, is how many places go to the households with the least money. Each year, at least 75% of the families an office newly gives vouchers to must have extremely low incomes. For public housing, the share is at least 40%. So if your income is above the extremely low limit, expect a longer wait for a voucher.

Your local housing office runs both lists. HUD says an office may close a list when more families are on it than it can help soon. The voucher rule also lets it stop taking applications once its list is long enough. Each office sets its own preferences, rules that put certain groups first.

You can usually join both lists, and lists at more than one office. HUD says you don't need to live in an area to join its voucher list. 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.

What happens if you move?

A voucher can move with you. You can use it anywhere in the housing office's area, and under HUD's moving rule you can usually take it to another housing office's area, even in another state. One common exception applies if you didn't live in the office's area when you applied. Then you may have to wait 12 months before you move away with the voucher, unless the office allows it sooner.

A public housing apartment can't move with you. The housing office can move you to another of its apartments, for example if yours becomes too crowded or needs repairs, or if you ask. If you move out on your own, you give up the apartment and its lower rent.

Who handles repairs and inspections?

In public housing, the housing office is your landlord, so you report repairs to it, and HUD says it must keep its buildings decent, safe and sanitary. With a voucher, the private landlord makes repairs. The housing office inspects the home before you move in and at least every two years after that, or every three years for a small housing office in a rural area.

With a voucher, if you report a problem to the housing office, it must inspect and the landlord must fix it by these deadlines:

What rights do you have as a tenant?

• Public housing. Your lease is with the housing office. It runs for 12 months and renews on its own, with a few exceptions. The office may end it only for reasons the rule lists, such as serious or repeated lease violations. For unpaid rent, the office must give you at least 30 days' written notice. In 2026, HUD wrote a rule that would shorten this notice, then put it on hold on March 13, 2026. Until HUD decides, the 30-day notice still applies.

  If you disagree with an action that affects your lease, you can ask for a grievance hearing, a meeting where someone outside the decision hears your side.

• Voucher. Your lease is with the private landlord, usually for at least a year at first. The landlord may end it only for serious or repeated lease violations, breaking the law or another good reason. The housing office must offer you an informal hearing on decisions about your income or your voucher's bedroom size, and before it ends your voucher.

What happens if your income goes up?

In both programs, your rent is based on your income, so it goes up when you earn more.

• Public housing. The over-income limit is 2.4 times HUD's very low income limit for your area. If your income goes over it, the office must tell you in writing. If it stays over for 24 months in a row, the office must either end your lease or charge you a higher rent, depending on its policy.
• Voucher. As your share rises, the voucher pays less. If your income rises so far that the voucher pays nothing, the voucher ends after 180 days with no payment.

Which one should you apply for?

Apply for both if you can. Waits for each depend on the housing office and on your household size, so the one that is open is often the one to join. To see which public housing and voucher lists are taking names today, check our waitlists page. Our qualify check shows which listings fit your household's size and income. Then join a Section 8 waitlist or apply for public housing the way your office asks.