What income qualifies for a Section 8 voucher?

Generally your household must be at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) for its size. By law (24 CFR 982.201) about 75% of new vouchers go to extremely low-income households at or below 30% AMI. Check your exact tier with the Income Limits tool.

Is citizenship required for Section 8?

At least one adult member of the household must have eligible immigration status; some non-citizens qualify. Specific rules are set by the local PHA and federal statute (42 U.S.C. § 1437).

Section 8 Eligibility Checker

See your income tier (Extremely Low / Very Low / Low Income) and how close you are to the next bracket using official HUD FY2026 income limits for your county.

Am I eligible for Section 8?

State

Household size

Gross annual household income ($)

HUD sets voucher eligibility at ≤80% of Area Median Income (AMI) for household size; 75% of new vouchers must go to households at or below 30% AMI.

Source: HUD FY2026 Income Limits (Section 8), effective 2026-05-01; xlsx: Section8-FY26.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-08-23.

Statutory Provenance & Fact-Checking Standards

✓ Verified HUD FY2026 FMR Rules

Maintained under the editorial review of Raymond Vance, MSW (HUD Section 8 Housing Specialist). All calculation algorithms are calibrated against statutory federal regulations:24 CFR § 982.503 (Voucher Payment Standards),24 CFR § 982.505 (HAP Calculation),HUD Handbook 7420.10G, andFY2026 County-Level Fair Market Rent (FMR) Datasets (89 FR 73400).

Dataset status: 2026-08-23 · Data classification: U.S. Federal Government Work (Public Domain) · Independent non-governmental reference engine.

📚 Academic & Policy Citation (APA 7th Edition)

VoucherFig Housing Policy Group. (2026). U.S. 3,143-County Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher & Fair Market Rent Analysis System (FY2026 ed.). VoucherFig. https://voucherfig.com