Section 8 payment standards: voucher limits by bedroom size

A Section 8 voucher pays part of your rent to a private landlord. For each home size, your housing office sets a voucher limit, officially the Section 8 payment standard. It is the highest rent plus utilities a home can have while you pay only about 30% of your income, not what the voucher pays. Section 8 payment standards are 90% to 110% of the fair market rent set by HUD, the federal housing department.

What does the voucher limit do for you?

The voucher limit, or payment standard, is the highest rent plus utilities a home can have while you pay only your base payment. Your base payment is usually about 30% of your monthly income after HUD's deductions. When the rent plus utilities is at or under the voucher limit, you pay your base payment and the housing office pays the landlord the rest.

If the rent plus utilities is higher than the payment standard, you pay your base payment plus everything above it. HUD's rule sets what the voucher pays each month: the payment standard minus your base payment, or the rent plus utilities minus your base payment, whichever is lower.

Your base payment and your share are two different amounts:

• Your base payment (HUD calls it the total tenant payment) is the least you pay each month, usually 30% of your adjusted income, your income after set deductions.
• Your share (HUD's family share) is what you actually pay toward rent and utilities. It equals your base payment when the home is at or under the payment standard, and it is more when the home costs more.

How do you work out what you pay?

You pay at least your base payment, plus anything the rent plus utilities goes above the voucher limit. Take an example from Spokane County, Washington, where the Spokane Housing Authority's payment standard for a two-bedroom home is $1,380. A household with a two-bedroom voucher has $1,800 a month in adjusted income, so its base payment is $540 (30% of $1,800). In this example, the voucher's part of the rent can't go above $840 ($1,380 minus $540).

The $1,600 home can't be approved for this household. When you first rent a home with a voucher, your share can't be more than 40% of your adjusted monthly income. Here 40% is $720, so the highest rent plus utilities that can pass is $1,560 ($720 plus $840).

Which bedroom size is used for you?

Your voucher states how many bedrooms your household needs. The housing office decides that from your household's size under HUD's voucher size rule. HUD's rule then uses the lower of two payment standards: the one for your voucher's bedroom size, or the one for the home you rent. So a smaller home than your voucher allows lowers the payment standard used for you. A bigger home doesn't raise it.

How do housing offices set voucher limits?

Each housing office keeps a schedule of payment standards, with one dollar amount for each bedroom size. HUD's rule lets it set each amount anywhere from 90% to 110% of the fair market rent for that size, without asking HUD. When HUD publishes new fair market rents, the office has three months to update any amount that falls outside that range.

Amounts outside the range need a reason:

• Higher than 110%. HUD allows this in some cases, for example when many voucher families in the area pay more than 30% of their income. HUD's September 2024 guidance explains when. A housing office can also approve a higher amount for one family as an accommodation for a disability, so ask if you need one.
• Lower than 90%. Only with HUD's approval.

In some metro areas, payment standards change by ZIP code. HUD requires offices in the areas it names to use small area fair market rents, set for each ZIP code, and other offices may choose to. An office can also set separate amounts for parts of its area.

What does a real schedule look like?

Spokane County's schedule shows payment standards set a little under HUD's fair market rents.

Each Spokane payment standard is about 89% to 94% of the new fair market rent for its size. The studio amount is just under the 90% minimum because HUD's new rents took effect October 1, 2026. HUD's rule gives an office three months after that to update any amount outside the range.

What happens when the payment standard changes?

If your housing office lowers its payment standard, it may keep your old amount for as long as you stay in your home. If it does lower yours, HUD's rule says it must give you at least 12 months' written notice with the new amount. The first cut can't start until two years after the office lowered its standard.

If the payment standard goes up, the office must start using the higher amount for you by the earliest of three dates. Those are a rent increase that would raise your share, your next income review, or one year after the change.

Can you rent a home that costs more than the voucher limit?

Yes, if you can pay the extra and keep your share at or under 40% of your adjusted income when you move in. The housing office must also find the rent reasonable compared with similar homes nearby that have no voucher. HUD's tenant page says the payment standard is not a limit on what a landlord can charge. A landlord can ask more; you pay the extra.

How do you find your housing office's payment standards?

1. Find your housing office. That is the office that gave you your voucher, or the one for the area where you want to live.
2. Look on its website under its voucher or landlord pages for a payment standard schedule.
3. Ask if you can't find it. The packet you get when you are picked for a voucher must explain how the office sets your payment standard.
4. Read the row for your voucher's bedroom size, and ask whether the office uses ZIP-code amounts.
5. Compare it with HUD's fair market rent for your area on HUD USER's fair market rents page.
6. Work out your rent for a home you like, step by step, before you sign.

To see HUD's estimate of the voucher limit, or payment standard, for a ZIP code, use our voucher estimate page. To find a voucher waitlist, a line you join now for a voucher later, see our area-wide waitlists, and use our qualify check to see which listings fit your household.