9 min read · Updated July 2026
Section 8 eligibility and income limits explained
Income tiers, household composition, citizenship, criminal history, and the other rules that decide whether you qualify for a Housing Choice Voucher.
The four eligibility pillars
To qualify for the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) or for traditional public housing, an applicant household must meet four broad requirements: an income test, a household-composition definition, a citizenship-or-eligible-immigration-status test, and a clean-enough screening test. Each of these is set partly by federal law and partly by the local PHA, which has substantial discretion within the federal framework.
Income limits, in detail
HUD publishes income limits each year for every county and metropolitan area in the country. The limits are tied to the local Area Median Income (AMI) for a four-person family, with adjustments for family size. There are three relevant tiers:
- Low Income (80% of AMI): the broad outer eligibility ceiling for most HUD programs.
- Very Low Income (50% of AMI): the standard ceiling for the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Most voucher applicants must be at or below this level.
- Extremely Low Income (30% of AMI, or the federal poverty line, whichever is greater): the tier from which PHAs are required to draw at least 75% of new admissions to the HCV program.
Because AMI varies dramatically by location, the actual dollar thresholds are very different in different places. A four-person family at 50% of AMI in Mississippi might be at $32,000; the same family at 50% of AMI in San Francisco might be over $90,000. Always look up the limit for your specific county on HUD's annual income limits page or on your local PHA's website.
How "income" is defined
This trips up many applicants. HUD income includes wages, self-employment income, interest, dividends, regularly recurring gifts, child support actually received, alimony, Social Security and SSI, unemployment compensation, military pay, and most pensions. It does not include earned income tax credits, payments for the care of foster children or foster adults, lump-sum inheritances or insurance settlements, sporadic gifts, scholarships used for tuition and fees, and reimbursements for medical expenses.
From your gross income, the PHA applies a series of deductions to compute "adjusted income": $480 per dependent (children, full-time students over 17, and disabled adults), $400 for elderly or disabled families, child care expenses that enable an adult to work or attend school, and unreimbursed medical or disability-assistance expenses above 3% of annual income. Your tenant rent contribution is then computed against your adjusted income.
Household composition
HUD's definition of a "family" is broader than many state programs. A family can be a single person, a group of related individuals, an unrelated group sharing a household, an elderly family, a near-elderly family, a disabled family, a displaced family, or the remaining member of a tenant family. Marriage is not required, and unrelated adults can apply as a family. Bedroom-size determinations follow HUD's occupancy standards but allow PHAs to set their own subsidy standards; in general two people per bedroom is the working assumption.
Citizenship and eligible immigration status
To receive federal housing assistance, household members must be U.S. citizens or noncitizens with one of several "eligible immigration statuses" defined under the 1996 immigration reforms. Eligible categories include lawful permanent residents (green-card holders), refugees, asylees, certain parolees, certain victims of trafficking, and certain other status holders. Mixed-status families — where some members are eligible and others are not — are generally allowed but the subsidy is prorated to exclude the ineligible members from the subsidy calculation.
Criminal history and screening
Federal law absolutely prohibits PHAs from admitting anyone subject to a lifetime registration requirement under a state sex-offender registration program, or anyone who has been convicted of producing methamphetamine on the premises of federally assisted housing. Beyond these two narrow categorical bars, PHAs have substantial discretion. Most have look-back periods of three to five years for serious drug-related or violent criminal activity. HUD has issued repeated guidance instructing PHAs not to use blanket bars on anyone with any criminal record, and to consider mitigating circumstances and the time elapsed since the offense.
Owing money to a PHA
Many PHAs deny admission to applicants who owe money to that PHA or to any PHA from a prior tenancy — for example, unpaid rent, utility costs, or damage. Resolving any outstanding debt with a former PHA dramatically improves your chances of being admitted. Some PHAs have payment-plan programs that will allow admission once a plan is in place.
Income changes after you are admitted
Your tenant rent share is recomputed annually based on your most recent income. If your income changes substantially mid-year (for example, you lose a job or start a higher-paying one), most PHAs require you to report the change within 10 to 14 days. Increases trigger a higher rent contribution; decreases trigger a lower one. If your income rises so high that the subsidy would be zero, you are still allowed to remain in the program for several months — and many PHAs reinstate the subsidy if your income drops back below the cutoff.