Public housing waitlists: how to find open lists and apply

Public housing is owned and run by a local housing authority, and each authority keeps its own waitlist, often split by bedroom size or building. To find an open list, check the authority's website or HUD's contact directory, HUD being the federal housing department. Apply to every open list you qualify for, since lists close fast and waits run long.

How is public housing different from Section 8?

HUD says about 3,300 local housing agencies manage public housing, which houses roughly 970,000 households. The homes are apartments and houses the authority itself owns. A Section 8 voucher is different: it helps pay rent on a home from a private landlord. Our guide to finding an open Section 8 waitlist covers vouchers, and how to apply for Section 8 covers that application.

An authority may run both programs, and it often keeps separate lists. HUD's guidebook says "the waiting list" is really several sub-lists by unit size and type. An authority may run one list for all its housing or a separate list for each building, and its yearly plan must say which. If its voucher list is open when you join a public housing list, it must offer to add you to the voucher list too. It must offer the reverse as well, if it has units that suit you. Ask.

How do lists open and close?

The authority decides. HUD says it may keep a list open with no end date, or open it for set windows to bring in new applicants. When it opens one, its notice should say how, when and where to apply. HUD encourages several ways to apply, online and by mail as well as in person. It also encourages a window long enough to give people a real chance, such as 30 days.

Closing is also the authority's call. HUD's guidebook says an authority may close when it lacks units to help everyone on the list within a reasonable time, which HUD puts at 12 to 24 months as a best practice. It may close only part of a list, for example staying open to families with a certain preference.

Two authorities show the range.

San Francisco lists its voucher, project-based voucher, public housing and related lists as closed. A project-based voucher is a voucher tied to one building. San Francisco took online applications for its public housing and related building lists from May 7 to 21, 2025. It then set a lottery to draw up to 24,000 names.

Philadelphia says it closed its public housing lists on April 15, 2013, and will reopen them when waits reach an acceptable level. It says its senior-designated developments and special programs stay open, and that about 40,000 people are on its waitlist.

How do preferences and the lottery work?

A preference is a rule that moves some applicants ahead of others on the list. Federal rules let an authority adopt local preferences based on local needs (24 CFR 960.206, where CFR means Code of Federal Regulations). Examples include working families, families with a person with a disability, survivors of domestic violence, and single people who are elderly, homeless or displaced. An authority may also prefer people who live or work in its area, but it may not require residence. It must tell you which preferences exist and let you show you qualify.

Preferences only set the order on the list. They do not change who is eligible. Among applicants with the same priority, the authority picks by the date and time you applied or by a drawing, and HUD encourages drawings. Each authority writes this in its admissions policy and its yearly plan, and must post its selection policies where it takes applications. Ask for a copy.

Federal rules also require that at least 40 percent of the families admitted each year be extremely low income, meaning at or below 30 percent of the area median or the federal poverty level, whichever is higher (24 CFR 960.202). The area median income is the middle income in your area: half of households earn more and half earn less. Our guide to area median income (AMI) explains it.

Who can apply?

Federal rules say an applicant must be a family, which can be one person, with income under the limit and assets within the limits (24 CFR 960.201). HUD says the authority also checks citizenship or eligible immigration status. Federal rules also require the authority to turn down some applicants. Examples are someone under a lifetime sex offender registration requirement, or someone evicted from federal housing for a drug-related reason in the past three years (24 CFR 960.204). Our guide on how to qualify for affordable housing covers income rules.

How do you find open lists and apply?

1. Name your authorities. HUD's directory lists housing authorities by state. Pick every one covering a place you would live.
2. Check each list's status. Look on its website or call. Ask which lists exist by bedroom size and building, and when closed ones may reopen.
3. Apply inside the window. Methods vary: online, by mail, in person or by drawing. HUD says the application must be written. Save your confirmation.
4. Claim every preference you may qualify for. The authority must let you do that before you submit.
5. Repeat at other authorities that have open lists.

As of October 5, 2026, our waitlists page shows 158 open area-wide waitlists in 19 states, meaning lists for a whole city, county or state, not one building. Of these, 51 include a Section 8 voucher list and 93 include public housing. A list for both counts in each number, and the rest are for buildings with project-based vouchers (vouchers tied to one building) or do not say which kind. Texas has 62, Illinois 29, New York 19, Alaska 16 and Florida 8. The other 24 are in 14 states. See Texas, Illinois and New York, or browse open listings.

With thousands of agencies, we track only a small fraction of them, and we list none in most states. A list we do not show may be open, and a list we show may have closed.

Why are the lists long, and what should you do?

HUD's guidebook describes lists with far more applications than an authority can serve in a reasonable time. San Francisco set a draw of 24,000 names, and Philadelphia has about 40,000 people waiting. No set wait applies to every list, so:

• Apply to many lists. An authority may not refuse to list you because you applied elsewhere.
• Keep your details current and answer every letter. HUD says authorities may drop applicants who miss an update deadline, and each authority's policy says when updates happen.
• Check the status of your application, and ask about estimated waits by bedroom size.
• Keep looking. Our qualify check shows homes you may fit while you wait, and pages for Texas, Illinois and Florida show open homes by state.

When your name nears the top, the authority checks your income, preferences and background before offering a unit.