Guide

Small Area FMRs and Section 8 Payment Standards

How ZIP-code Small Area Fair Market Rents work, where they are mandatory, and how payment standards are set.

Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) are Fair Market Rents calculated for individual ZIP codes inside a metropolitan area. They let a voucher pay more in expensive neighborhoods and less in cheaper ones, instead of one figure for the whole metro area.

Where they are required

HUD has designated 65 metro areas where housing agencies must use Small Area FMRs for the Housing Choice Voucher program (list last updated in August 2024). Twenty-four of them were designated in 2016 and most of the rest in 2023, with implementation by January 1, 2025. Elsewhere an agency may opt in. Our ZIP-code pages say which case applies.

From SAFMR to payment standard

An agency can set its payment standard anywhere from 90% to 110% of the applicable FMR without asking HUD. HUD's SAFMR file lists both ends of that range for every ZIP code, and we show them for every unit size. Agencies can also request exception payment standards above 110%.

How big the differences are

Within one metro area the two-bedroom SAFMR can vary by a factor of two or more between ZIP codes. Each metro area page plots every ZIP code of the area on one line so you can see the spread at a glance.

Limits of ZIP codes

ZIP codes are postal routes, not neighborhoods. Some cross county or metro lines, so HUD lists a few ZIP codes under more than one area; our pages show each listing. Very small or post-office-box ZIP codes take the figures of a larger neighboring area.