Income Limits and ELI Targeting: Eligibility Is Not the Same Test
HUD publishes income limits by area each year, and a family's income against those limits decides both whether it is eligible and whether admitting it counts toward the agency's targeting obligation. Eligibility and targeting are separate tests — a family can be eligible without helping you meet targeting, which is what makes the annual count worth watching before the year closes.
The extremely-low-income targeting obligation
A share of new admissions in a fiscal year must be extremely low income. The share differs by programme, and it is counted on admissions — not on your caseload as a whole.
Housing Choice Voucher
75%
of new admissions in the fiscal year must be extremely low income. 24 CFR 982.201(b)(2)
Public Housing
40%
of new admissions in the fiscal year must be extremely low income. 24 CFR 960.202(b)
The categories
Each is defined against HUD’s published limit for the area. Income itself is annual income under 24 CFR 5.603(b).
Extremely low income
Very low income
Low income
Over the income limit
Why there are no dollar figures on this page
HUD publishes income limits per area and revises them annually under its HUD FY Income Limits Methodology. A number printed here would be wrong for almost every agency reading it, and stale for the rest within a year. Eligibility rules: 24 CFR 982.201(b) for vouchers, 24 CFR 960.201 for public housing. Tax-credit properties use the HUD Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSP) Income Limits methodology, with the set-aside election at 26 U.S.C. 42(g)(1).
Common questions
- What are the income categories?
- Extremely low, very low, and low income, each defined against HUD's published limit for the area, plus over-income. The categories are what the targeting obligations are counted in.
- What is the extremely low income targeting requirement?
- It differs by programme. The Housing Choice Voucher and public housing obligations are set at different percentages of new admissions in a fiscal year — both are shown on this page, with the rules they come from.
- Is targeting the same as eligibility?
- No, and conflating them is the common error. Eligibility asks whether the family may be assisted at all; targeting asks what share of your new admissions in a year were extremely low income. A family can be perfectly eligible and do nothing for your targeting position.
- Where do the dollar figures come from?
- HUD publishes them per area, annually, under its Income Limits methodology. This page deliberately shows none: they are area-specific and revised each year, so a number printed here would be wrong for nearly every agency reading it.
- How is income defined for this?
- Annual income under 24 CFR 5.603(b), as amended by HOTMA. The definition, not the limit, is what determines which category a family falls into.
- Do LIHTC properties use the same limits?
- Not the same table. Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects use HUD's MTSP methodology, and the set-aside election is governed by 26 U.S.C. 42(g)(1). A property in both programmes is tested against both.
What this page is
A reference, not legal advice. Every figure above is read from the same module the Honestkey™ agency tools compute with, and each names the rule it comes from so your staff can check it. Honestkey™ prepares and documents determinations — it does not submit to PIC or TRACS and it is not a substitute for HUD systems or your own counsel.