Guide

Area Median Income (AMI) and Income Limits Explained

What HUD's median family income and the 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% income limits mean, and which programs use them.

Area Median Income, usually shortened to AMI, is the middle family income in an area: half of families earn more and half earn less. HUD calls its version the median family income (MFI) and publishes it each spring with a set of income limits. The FY2026 limits took effect on May 1, 2026.

The income categories

• Extremely low income: 30% of median, or the federal poverty guideline if that is higher (capped at the 50% limit).
• Very low income: 50% of median.
• 60% limit: used by Low-Income Housing Tax Credit properties; published as the Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project (MTSP) limits.
• Low income: 80% of median, capped at the national median in high-income areas.

The limits are set for a family of four and adjusted for other sizes: a one-person household gets 70% of the four-person figure, two people 80%, three people 90%, five people 108%, six 116%, seven 124% and eight 132%. HUD rounds the results and applies caps and floors, which is why the published numbers are not always exact percentages of the median.

Why the 80% limit is sometimes below 80% of the median

In high-cost and high-income areas HUD adjusts the very low-income limit upward for housing costs and caps the low-income limit at the U.S. median family income. In some areas these rules mean the published limits are not simple percentages of the local median. Always use the published table, not your own multiplication.

Which programs use which column

Public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers admit households up to the 80% limit but must give most new vouchers to households under the 30% limit. HOME rental units use the 50% and 60% limits. Tax-credit properties use the 50% and 60% MTSP limits; some older ones keep higher HERA hold-harmless limits, which we show where HUD publishes them.

Check a household

Every county page has a household check: pick the number of people and enter yearly income before taxes, and it shows which of HUD's categories that falls in. It is a comparison with the published limits, not an eligibility decision.