Low income apartments in San Jose: waitlists and how to apply

To find low income apartments in San Jose, search the city's San José Housing Portal and apply to each building that fits. Also sign up for a Section 8 voucher, which pays part of your rent to a private landlord, on the online interest lists of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority. Names are drawn from these sign-up lists at random.

Who runs low income apartments in San Jose?

Two kinds of office run them, and you apply to each one separately:

In most income-restricted apartments, the rent is a set amount, lower than similar apartments nearby, for households earning under the building's limit. Your rent doesn't go up or down with your pay, so some buildings also set a minimum income, the least you must earn to pay the rent. With a voucher, you usually pay about 30% of your income, and the housing office pays the landlord the rest.

The Santa Clara County Housing Authority is the housing authority (the local housing office) for the county, including San Jose.

How do you apply to a San Jose apartment building?

1. Add up your household's income. Count the yearly pay before taxes of every adult who will live with you, and count everyone in your household.
2. Search the housing portal by your income and household size. Each listing shows its income range, who the apartments are for and how to apply.
3. Apply the way the listing says, online or on paper, before any deadline it gives.
4. Keep your details current and answer every letter, call and email from the building.

Listings fill apartments in three ways. In a lottery, applications are drawn in random order after the deadline, so applying early gives you no better chance. A waitlist is a line you join now: you get an offer later, when an apartment comes free. With a first-come listing, the building looks at applications in the order they arrive, so apply as soon as you can.

How does Section 8 work in San Jose?

In San Jose, you join a Section 8 interest list online, and the housing office draws names from it at random when vouchers come free. The Santa Clara County Housing Authority says its online interest lists are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It keeps two interest lists, and when you sign up you say whether you want to live anywhere in the county or at specific rental buildings.

Joining an interest list isn't the same as being on the waitlist. When vouchers come free, the office draws names from the interest lists at random and puts those households on its waitlist. Then it checks whether they qualify. The office's page lists more than 37,000 people on the interest lists, so joining doesn't promise you a voucher.

To sign up in the applicant portal, you need:

• an email address, where the office sends your updates;
• the head of household's date of birth and Social Security number;
• the names and birth dates of everyone who will live with you.

You must be 18 or older, and the office's page says you must be legally documented in the country. If only some people in your household have legal status, call the office and ask: can we apply, and how does that change our voucher? You don't have to live in the county to apply. People who have lived or worked there in the last five years get preference, which moves them ahead of others. Log in at least once a year to stay active on the lists.

If you are homeless, the county's Coordinated Entry System, its process for matching homeless people with housing, refers people to vouchers the office sets aside for people who are homeless. Start with an assessment: call the HomeFirst homeless helpline in San Jose at 408-510-7600.

What are the 2026 income limits in Santa Clara County?

For four people in Santa Clara County, the 2026 very low limit is $102,750 a year. An income limit is the most your household can earn in a year, before taxes, and still qualify. HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sets three limits for the county, which took effect May 1, 2026:

The housing office uses the very low limits as its income limits for a voucher: your household's income must not be more than the very low limit for its size. The extremely low limit is 60% of the very low limit, or the federal poverty guideline if that is higher. Each year, at least 75% of the families the office newly gives vouchers to must be at or under it.

Buildings set their own limits as shares of the area median income, the middle income in the area, and each listing shows them. Tax credit buildings, which get a federal tax break for keeping rents low, usually set apartments at 50% or 60%.

Example. A household of two earning $75,000 a year is under the very low limit of $82,200, so it can join the list. It is above the extremely low limit of $49,350. At least 75% of new vouchers go to households at or under that limit, so a household like this is passed over more often. For a building, it compares $75,000 with the two-person income range on each listing.

How do you avoid fees and scams?

A housing office can't charge you to apply for a Section 8 voucher or for public housing, the apartments a housing office owns and rents out. Some private buildings charge an application or credit check fee, so read the listing and ask what the fee covers before you pay. HUD's inspector general warns about social media posts that falsely announce a list and then ask for money. Use only the phone numbers on the housing office's and the city's own websites.

What should you do next?

Join the county's voucher interest lists today; it's free and takes about three minutes. Then search the housing portal and apply to every building whose income range fits your household, since a voucher may take years. Gather your documents now, so you can answer fast when a building contacts you.

See the Bay Area listings you can apply for now and the California lists taking names today. Use our qualify check to see which listings fit your household, and join other California Section 8 lists too, since each housing office keeps its own.