Section 8 requirements: who qualifies in 2026

The main Section 8 requirements are an income at or under your area's limit, U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status, and a background check you can pass. A housing authority (the local housing office) checks them before it gives you a voucher, which pays part of the rent on an apartment you choose.

What are the Section 8 requirements?

Each housing office adds its own rules where federal law lets it, in a document called its administrative plan. Ask the housing office where you can read it. Applying is free: a housing office can't charge you an application fee, so never pay anyone to put you on its list.

A Section 8 building works differently from a voucher: it is a privately owned building where the government pays part of the rent for certain apartments. You apply at that building's own office, which keeps its own waitlist, a list of people waiting for an apartment.

What income qualifies for Section 8?

Federal rules say most families who get a voucher must be "very low income." That means a yearly income before taxes at or under the 50% limit that the federal housing department (HUD) sets for your area and household size. HUD also sets out what counts as income.

HUD starts from half the area median income, the middle income in the area. Where rents are high, it raises the limit: in the New York City area it is $84,800 for four people, while the median is $104,300. So read the limit for your area instead of halving the median.

A few kinds of "low-income" families, up to 80% of the median, can also get a voucher. They include families who already have federal rent help and families who meet extra rules in the housing office's administrative plan.

Each year, at least 75% of the families a housing office newly admits from its voucher waitlist must be "extremely low income." The rule counts only that year's new families, including families who get project-based vouchers, which lower the rent on one apartment in a building while you live there. Extremely low income means at or under 30% of the area median income or the federal poverty guideline, whichever is higher. The poverty guideline is a yearly dollar amount the federal health department sets for each household size. It is never above the 50% limit.

If your income is between those two levels, you still qualify. Families like yours can fill at most a quarter of each year's new admissions, so you may wait longer. There is no minimum income, the least a household must earn, for a voucher.

What do the limits look like in dollars?

Here are HUD's 2026 income limits for the Milwaukee area, where the median family income for 2026 is $108,400:

To find your own area's figures, use HUD's income limits tool. If you live in Wisconsin or Minnesota, our Twin Cities and Wisconsin page shows homes you can apply for there.

Do you have to be a citizen?

You must be a U.S. citizen or a noncitizen with eligible immigration status, under the federal rule on who can get a voucher. Eligible status means one of the groups listed in federal immigration-status law, and the housing office checks your documents against that list.

Each adult signs a written statement of their status, and lying on it is a crime. An adult signs for each child. Noncitizens under 62 who claim eligible status also give immigration documents, and those 62 or older give proof of age instead, as the federal rule on immigration status says.

A household can include people who don't claim eligible status. Each one says so in writing and doesn't have to show documents. The voucher then pays less, in proportion to the members who have eligible status, under the federal rule for mixed households. Before you decide not to apply, ask the housing office how much this would lower the voucher for your household.

Do you need a Social Security number?

Under the federal rule on Social Security numbers, you give a valid Social Security number for each person in the household, with proof. People who don't claim eligible immigration status are the exception. If a child under 6 joins the household without a number, the family has 90 days to provide one.

Is there a limit on savings or property?

Yes. Federal rules limit a household's net assets: the cash value of what it owns, such as savings, stocks and property, minus what it would cost to sell them. HUD's 2026 table sets the limit at $105,574 under the federal rule on assets. Some assets, such as retirement accounts, are left out of the count.

Some housing offices still follow older income and asset rules and don't use this limit yet. Ask yours: "Do you use HUD's 2026 limit of $105,574 on savings and property?"

A housing office can also turn you down if your household owns a home it could live in. Exceptions include a home the family is trying to sell and a home owned by a survivor of domestic violence.

What background rules apply?

Federal rules require a housing office to turn a household away, or to set standards that do, in these cases:

• Someone in the household must register as a sex offender for life.
• Someone in the household was ever convicted of making methamphetamine in federally assisted housing.
• Someone was evicted from federally assisted housing for a drug crime in the last three years. The housing office may still admit the household if that person finished a drug treatment program or the reason for the eviction no longer applies.
• Someone is using illegal drugs, or their drug or alcohol use could put other residents at risk.

Beyond those, the housing office may turn you down for recent drug or violent crime, or other crime that puts neighbors or staff at risk. It decides how far back to look. The federal rule on other denials adds reasons that aren't crimes. Two examples are an eviction from federally assisted housing in the last five years and money you owe a housing office. The housing office must also turn you down if anyone in the household refuses to sign the forms that let it check your information.

If the housing office turns you down, it must tell you why in writing. You can then ask for an informal review by someone who did not make the decision, under the federal rule on informal reviews.

Who counts as a family?

A family can be one person or a group of people living together, under the federal definition of a family. Students have a special rule. The federal rule on students blocks a voucher only for a student who meets all seven of these:

• Enrolled at a college.
• Under 24.
• Not a veteran.
• Unmarried.
• No dependent child.
• Not a person with a disability who already had Section 8 on November 30, 2005.
• The student, or the student's parents, earn over the income limit.

If even one does not apply, the student is judged by the usual rules.

A worked example

Dana, a single parent of two, lives in the Milwaukee area. Dana earns $40,000 a year before taxes, has $12,000 in savings and owns no property. All three are U.S. citizens, and no one has a criminal record or a past eviction.

• Income: the very low limit for three people is $48,800. Dana's $40,000 is under it, so Dana qualifies on income.
• Extremely low income: the limit for three is $29,250, and Dana is above it. So Dana's household is in the group that can fill at most a quarter of each year's new admissions.
• Status and Social Security numbers: Dana shows proof of citizenship and Social Security numbers for all three.
• Assets: $12,000 is far below $105,574, and Dana owns no home.
• Background: nothing triggers a denial.

Dana meets every requirement, so Dana can apply when a local housing office opens its voucher waitlist.

Does meeting the requirements mean you get a voucher?

No. Each housing office has a limited number of vouchers. It gives them to families from its waitlist in the order its plan sets, under the federal rule on running waitlists. It may close its list when it has more names than it can serve, under the federal rule on opening and closing waitlists.

To find a list that is open, read how to find an open Section 8 waitlist, then follow our Section 8 application guide. Our area-wide waitlists page shows the lists housing offices keep for a whole city or county. You can also browse open listings or use the qualify check to see which ones fit your household.