Income limits used to determine the income eligibility of applicants for assistance under three programs authorized by the National Housing Act. These programs are the Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR) rental program, the Section 235 program, and the Section 236 program. These income limits are listed by dollar amount and family size, and they are effective on the date issued. Due to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-289), Income Limits used to determine qualification levels as well as set maximum rental rates for projects funded with tax credits authorized under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) and projects financed with tax exempt housing bonds issued to provide qualified residential rental development under section 142 of the Code (hereafter referred to as Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSPs)) are now calculated and presented separately from the Section 8 income limits.

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) is pleased to announce that Fair Market Rents and Income Limits data are now available via an application programming interface (API). With this API, developers can easily access and customize Fair Market Rents and Income Limits data for use in existing applications or to create new applications. To create an account and get an access token, please visit the API page here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/dataset/fmr-api.html. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets income limits that determine eligibility for assisted housing programs including the Public Housing, Section 8 project-based, Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Section 202 housing for the elderly, and Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities programs. HUD develops income limits based on Median Family Income estimates and Fair Market Rent area definitions for each metropolitan area, parts of some metropolitan areas, and each non-metropolitan county.

Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSP) Income Limits were developed to meet the requirements established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-289). MTSP Income Limits are provided and are used to determine qualification levels as well as set maximum rental rates. Complete documentation is provided for selecting Income Limits of any area of the country.

Since passage of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, the federal government has provided housing assistance to low-income renters. Most of these housing subsidies were provided under programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or predecessor agencies. All programs covered in this report provide subsidies that reduce rents for low-income tenants who meet program eligibility requirements. Generally, households pay rent equal to 30 percent of their incomes, after deductions, while the federal government pays the remainder of rent or rental costs. To qualify for a subsidy, an applicant’s income must initially fall below a certain income limit. These income limits are HUD-determined, location specific, and vary by household size. Applicants for housing assistance are usually placed on a waiting list until a subsidized unit becomes available.Assistance provided under HUD programs falls into three categories: public housing, tenant-based, and privately owned, project-based.In public housing, local housing agencies receive allocations of HUD funding to build, operate or make improvements to housing. The housing is owned by the local agencies. Public housing is a form of project-based subsidy because households may receive assistance only if they agree to live at a particular public housing project.Currently, tenant based assistance is the most prevalent form of housing assistance provided. Historically, tenant based assistance began with the Section 8 certificate and voucher programs, which were created in 1974 and 1983, respectively. These programs were replaced by the Housing Choice Voucher program, under legislation enacted in 1998. Tenant based programs allow participants to find and lease housing in the private market. Local public housing agencies (PHAs) and some state agencies serving as PHAs enter into contracts with HUD to administer the programs. The PHAs then enter into contracts with private landlords. The housing must meet housing quality standards and other program requirements. The subsidies are used to supplement the rent paid by low-income households. Under tenant-based programs, assisted households may move and take their subsidy with them. The primary difference between certificates and vouchers is that under certificates, there was a maximum rent which the unit may not exceed. By contrast, vouchers have no specific maximum rent; the low-income household must pay any excess over the payment standard, an amount that is determined locally and that is based on the Fair Market Rent. HUD calculates the Fair Market Rent based on the 40th percentile of the gross rents paid by recent movers for non-luxury units meeting certain quality standards.The third major type of HUD rental assistance is a collection of programs generally referred to as multifamily assisted, or, privately-owned, project-based housing. These types of housing assistance fall under a collection of programs created during the last four decades. What these programs have in common is that they provide rental housing that is owned by private landlords who enter into contracts with HUD in order to receive housing subsidies. The subsidies pay the difference between tenant rent and total rental costs. The subsidy arrangement is termed project-based because the assisted household may not take the subsidy and move to another location. The single largest project-based program was the Section 8 program, which was created in 1974. This program allowed for new construction and substantial rehabilitation that was delivered through a wide variety of financing mechanisms. An important variant of project-based Section 8 was the Loan Management Set Aside (LMSA) program, which was provided in projects financed under Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs that were not originally intended to provide deep subsidy rental assistance. Projects receiving these LMSA “piggyback” subsidies were developed under the Section 236 program, the Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR) program, and others that were unassisted when originally developed.Picture of Subsidized Households does not cover other housing

Text source: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/HOME-Income-limits.htmlLanding page description:HOME Income Limits data are available from FY 1998 to the present. The HOME Income Limits are calculated using the same methodology that HUD uses for calculating the income limits for the Section 8 program, in accordance with Section 3(b)(2) of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended. These limits are based on HUD estimates of median family income, with adjustments based on family size. Please note that the 30 percent income limits for the HOME program have been calculated based on the definition of Extremely Low–Income Family (ELI) as described in Consolidated Submission for CPD Programs section of 24 CFR part 91.5. Therefore, the ELI Limit is calculated as 30 percent of median family income for the area and may not be the same as the Section 8 ELI Limit for your jurisdiction. The Section 8 Limit is calculated based on the definition of ELI as described in The 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act, (Section 238 on page 128 Stat 635) which defines ELI as very low–income families whose incomes do not exceed the higher of the Federal poverty level or 30% of area median income. Family sizes in excess of 8 persons are calculated by adding 8% of the four-person income limit for each additional family member. That is, a 9-person limit should be 140% of the 4-person limit, the 10-person limit should be 148%.The HOME income limit values for large households (9-12 persons) must be rounded to the nearest $50. Therefore, all values from 1 to 24 are rounded down to 0, and all values from 25 to 49 are rounded up to 50.Note: The FY 2024 HOME Income Limits effective date is June 01, 2024.

California State Income Limits reflect updated median income and household income levels for acutely low-, extremely low-, very low-, low- and moderate-income households for California’s 58 counties (required by Health and Safety Code Section 50093). These income limits apply to State and local affordable housing programs statutorily linked to HUD income limits and differ from income limits applicable to other specific federal, State, or local programs.

Median family income (MFI) is calculated annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help set income limits that determine eligibility for assisted housing programs. HUD uses the median income from the American Community Survey (ACS) as a baseline and then factors in the national consumer price index and other variables to establish an area MFI. For more information about how HUD calculates this value, please visit: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html

Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) Income Limits are used for determining eligibility for HAF funds. HAF funds are used for qualified expenses that assist homeowners having incomes equal to or less than the greater of 150 percent of the area median income for their household size, or the median income for the United States, as determined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.The Department of the Treasury's Homeowner Assistance Fund provides funds to prevent homeowner mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and homeowner displacement. For more information about the Homeowner Assistance Fund Program, please visit https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/homeowner-assistance-fund

HUD Income Limits are collected and published to determine the maximum income a household may earn to participate in certain housing subsidy programs. Home income limits from the year 2019 were used. Median income is developed for each metropolitan area (and applies to all counties in the metro area), and each non-metropolitan area (and is a county level measure). Data was obtained for communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. The calculations stem from median family income data provided by the Census and adjusted for certain local conditions.

This data, maintained by the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH), is an inventory of all income-restricted units in the city. This data includes public housing owned by the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), privately- owned housing built with funding from DND and/or on land that was formerly City-owned, and privately-owned housing built without any City subsidy, e.g., created using Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) or as part of the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP). Information is gathered from a variety of sources, including the City's IDP list, permitting and completion data from the Inspectional Services Department (ISD), newspaper advertisements for affordable units, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation’s (CEDAC) Expiring Use list, and project lists from the BHA, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), MassHousing, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), among others. The data is meant to be as exhaustive and up-to-date as possible, but since many units are not required to report data to the City of Boston, MOH is constantly working to verify and update it. See the data dictionary for more information on the structure of the data and important notes. The database only includes units that have a deed-restriction. It does not include tenant-based (also known as mobile) vouchers, which subsidize rent, but move with the tenant and are not attached to a particular unit. There are over 22,000 tenant-based vouchers in the city of Boston which provide additional affordability to low- and moderate-income households not accounted for here. The Income-Restricted Housing report can be directly accessed here:
https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2023/04/Income%20Restricted%20Housing%202022_0.pdf

Learn more about income-restricted housing (as well as other types of affordable housing) here: https://www.boston.gov/affordable-housing-boston#income-restricted

The Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure List is published annually on or about February 1. The data for the Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure List comes from different sources including federal, state and local programs. This makes it difficult to ensure complete accuracy, so DOH asks municipalities to provide a local administrative review of and input on the street addresses of units and projects as well as information on deed-restricted units. The responses received by DOH vary widely from each municipality. In developing the Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure List, DOH counts: -Assisted housing units or housing receiving financial assistance under any governmental program for the construction or substantial rehabilitation of low and moderate income housing that was occupied or under construction by the end date of the report period for compilation of a given year’s list; -Rental housing occupied by persons receiving rental assistance under C.G.S. Chapter 138a (State Rental Assistance/RAP) or Section 142f of Title 42 of the U.S. Code (Section 8); -Ownership housing or housing currently financed by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and/or the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and -Deed-restricted properties or properties with deeds containing covenants or restrictions that require such dwelling unit(s) be sold or rented at or below prices that will preserve the unit(s) as affordable housing as defined in C.G.S. Section 8-39a for persons or families whose incomes are less than or equal to 80% of the area median income.

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program requires that each CDBG funded activity must either principally benefit low- and moderate-income persons, aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or meet a community development need having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community and other financial resources are not available to meet that need. With respect to activities that principally benefit low- and moderate-income persons, at least 51 percent of the activity's beneficiaries must be low and moderate income. For CDBG, a person is considered to be of low income only if he or she is a member of a household whose income would qualify as "very low income" under the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments program. Generally, these Section 8 limits are based on 50% of area median. Similarly, CDBG moderate income relies on Section 8 "lower income" limits, which are generally tied to 80% of area median. These data are from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS). To learn more about the Low to Moderate Income Populations visit: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/acs-low-mod-summary-data/, for questions about the spatial attribution of this dataset, please reach out to us at GISHelpdesk@hud.gov. Data Dictionary: DD_Low to Moderate Income Populations by Block GroupDate of Coverage: ACS 2020-2016

Measures the ability of housing voucher holders to find housing in the private rental market. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program is the federal government's largest low-income housing assistance program where people can seek housing in the private market. The maximum housing assistance is generally the lesser of the payment standard minus 30% of the family's monthly adjusted income or the gross rent for the unit minus 30% of monthly adjusted income. Source: Picture of Subsidized Housing, HUD Years Available: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the most important resource for creating affordable housing in the United States today. The LIHTC database, created by HUD and available to the public since 1997, contains information on 48,672 projects and 3.23 million housing units placed in service since 1987. Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Qualified Census Tracts must have 50 percent of households with incomes below 60 percent of the Area Median Gross Income (AMGI) or have a poverty rate of 25 percent or more. Difficult Development Areas (DDA) are areas with high land, construction and utility costs relative to the area median income and are based on Fair Market Rents, income limits, the 2010 census counts, and 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data.

This dataset and map service provides information on the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) low to moderate income areas. The term Low to Moderate Income, often referred to as low-mod, has a specific programmatic context within the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Over a 1, 2, or 3-year period, as selected by the grantee, not less than 70 percent of CDBG funds must be used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons. HUD uses special tabulations of Census data to determine areas where at least 51% of households have incomes at or below 80% of the area median income (AMI). This dataset and map service contains the following layer.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is required by law to set income limits that determine the eligibility of applicants for HUD's assisted housing programs. The major active assisted housing programs are the Public Housing program, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, Section 202 housing for the elderly program, and Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities program. FY2014.

Measures the ability of housing voucher holders to find housing in the private rental market. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program is the federal government?s largest low-income housing assistance program where people can seek housing in the private market. The maximum housing assistance is generally the lesser of the payment standard minus 30% of the family's monthly adjusted income or the gross rent for the unit minus 30% of monthly adjusted income. Source: Picture of Subsidized Housing, HUD Years Available: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023

California State Income Limits reflect updated median income and household income levels for acutely low-, extremely low-, very low-, low- and moderate-income households for California’s 58 counties (required by Health and Safety Code Section 50093). These income limits apply to State and local affordable housing programs statutorily linked to HUD income limits and differ from income limits applicable to other specific federal, State, or local programs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program assists very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled in obtaining decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market.

Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) receive federal funds from HUD to administer the voucher program, and housing subsidies are paid to the landlord directly by the PHA on behalf of the participating family. The voucher recipient remains responsible for paying any difference that exists between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program.

Voucher recipients are responsible for finding a suitable housing unit where the owner agrees to rent under the program. Because housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or individual, participants are free to choose their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments provided that the chosen housing meets the requirements of the program, and is not limited to units located in subsidized housing projects. Qualified housing may also include the family's present residence. Furthermore, under certain circumstances, and if authorized by the PHA, a family may use its voucher to purchase a modest home. Please note that to restrict access to tenant information HCV locations are identified in public records by the owner, and not the tenant. Public data pertaining to the locations of HCV program participants are only available as U.S. Census Tract aggregations. Moreover, to protect the confidentiality of those receiving Housing Choice Voucher Program assistance, tracts containing 10 or fewer voucher holders have been omitted from this service. This dataset includes both tenant-based vouchers and project-based vouchers. HCV_PUBLIC_PCT are calculated using 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC) table H4 Tenure Renter Occupied field. To learn more about the Housing Choice Voucher Program visit: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/about/, for questions about the spatial attribution of this dataset, please reach out to us at GISHelpdesk@hud.gov. Data Dictionary: DD_Housing Choice Vouchers by Tract Date of Coverage: Up to 04/2025Last Updated: 5/1/2025

This map shows households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, a threshold widely used by many affordable housing advocates and official government sources including Housing and Urban Development. Census asks about income and housing costs to understand whether housing is affordable in local communities. When housing is not sufficient or not affordable, income data helps communities:

• Enroll eligible households in programs designed to assist them.
• Qualify for grants from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership Program, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), and other programs.