Section 202 supportive housing for the elderly: who qualifies

Section 202 supportive housing for the elderly means apartment buildings for households with at least one person 62 or older and a very low income, usually at or under half of the area's middle income. Nonprofit groups run them with money from HUD, the federal housing department, and you apply at each building. Rent is usually about 30% of your adjusted income, your income after set deductions.

To get in, find Section 202 buildings near you and call each one to ask whether its waitlist, the line of people waiting for an apartment, is open.

What is Section 202 housing?

Section 202 is a HUD program that pays nonprofit groups to build, buy or fix up apartment buildings for older adults with low incomes.

HUD also signs a contract with each owner to pay the building's running costs that residents' rent doesn't cover. Most buildings have a service coordinator, a staff member who helps residents get services in the community, such as help with cleaning, cooking and rides. You live on your own: it is an apartment, not assisted living or a nursing home.

The lower rent comes with your apartment in that building. If you move out, you lose the lower rent, and the next person who moves into the apartment gets it.

Who qualifies for Section 202 housing?

You qualify for Section 202 housing if your household passes two tests: age and income.

Age. At least one person in your household must be 62 or older when you move in. Under the federal rule, other people in the household, such as a younger spouse, can be any age.

Income. Your household must have a very low income. The law defines that as at or under 50% of the area median income. That is the middle income in your area: half of families earn more and half earn less. In a few areas HUD sets the limit a little higher or lower. This is the building's income limit, the most your household can earn and still get in. Look up the dollar amount for your county and household size on HUD's income limits page, or ask the building.

The building's owner decides who qualifies. The building will ask for the Social Security numbers that federal rules require for your household. You also sign forms that let the owner check your wages and benefits.

How much is rent in a Section 202 building?

Rent in a Section 202 building is usually about 30% of your adjusted income, and HUD pays the rest. The exact rule is that you pay the highest of these amounts:

1. 30% of your monthly adjusted income;
2. 10% of your monthly income before deductions;
3. the part of a state cash aid payment set aside for housing, if you get one;
4. the building's minimum rent, if it has one.

Adjusted income is your yearly income minus set deductions. Every household whose head or spouse is 62 or older gets a flat deduction, and you can also deduct medical bills you pay yourself above a share of your income.

The amounts depend on whether your building has switched to HUD's newer income rules, which every building must use by January 1, 2027. Ask the building which rules it uses.

• Older rules: the flat deduction is $400, and you can deduct medical bills above 3% of your income.
• Newer rules: the flat deduction is $550 in 2026, and you can deduct medical bills above 10% of your income.

If you already had a medical deduction before your building switched, the 10% doesn't apply to you right away. It is 5% for the first 12 months, 7.5% for the next 12, and then 10%.

A worked example. Say you live alone on $1,300 a month from Social Security, with no large medical bills, in a building that uses the newer rules:

You pay the higher amount, $376 a month. In a building still using the older $400 deduction, it would be $380. If you pay your own utilities, the building subtracts a set amount for them, so your rent is lower. The building checks your income at least every 12 months, and your rent changes when your income does.

How do you find Section 202 buildings?

You find Section 202 buildings in HUD's Resource Locator: choose "Find Affordable Elderly and Special Needs Housing". HUD also has a map of buildings that mainly house older adults, but not every building on that map is Section 202, so ask the building.

You can also browse senior buildings in our building directory, then call each one and ask whether it is a Section 202 building and how long its waitlist is. For questions about a Section 202 building in your region, contact HUD's local Multifamily Office.

How do you apply, and how long is the wait?

1. Call or visit the building. Ask whether its waitlist is open, what the application needs and whether an apartment is free now.
2. Fill in the building's application and sign the form that says you meet the rules.
3. Bring your papers: proof of age and income, Social Security numbers and the signed consent forms. The building will tell you exactly what it needs.
4. Get on the waitlist. Applying puts you on it, and the building must keep a written list in the order people applied.
5. Tell the building every time your phone number or address changes. It contacts you when an apartment may come free.

Ask each building how long its list is. A building may stop taking applications when its list is so long that a new applicant would be unlikely to get in within 12 months. So apply to several buildings at once.

If the building turns you down, it must tell you in writing, promptly, and give the reason. You can ask for a meeting to review the decision, with someone other than the staff member who turned you down.

How is Section 202 different from other senior housing?

Section 202 is one of several kinds of low income apartments open to older adults, and each has its own way to apply:

• Public housing: apartments the housing authority (the local housing office) owns. You apply to the housing office, and some of its buildings are for older adults.
• Tax credit buildings: privately owned buildings with a set lower rent for households under an income limit. Some are for people 55 or 62 and older.
• Section 8 buildings: privately owned buildings where you pay about 30% of your income, and you apply at the building's office, as with Section 202.

Our guides to low-income senior housing and to Section 811 housing for people with disabilities compare more choices. Our guide to HUD income limits for 2026 shows how to look up yours.

Where can you see senior listings?

Browse listings for people 62 and older, and call each building to ask whether it is a Section 202 building and whether its waitlist is open. Use the qualify check to see which listings fit your household's size and income.