The short answer
Federal law requires a state's income limit to be no lower than 110% of the poverty guidelines, and allows it to go as high as 150% of poverty or 60% of the state's median income, whichever is greater. Within that band your state chooses the line, the benefit amount, and the application season. Households on SNAP, TANF, SSI or certain veterans benefits are usually eligible automatically.
A block grant, not a national programme
LIHEAP - the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program - sends federal money to the states, territories and tribes as a block grant. They run it. That is why two neighbours in different states with identical incomes can get different answers, different amounts, and different deadlines.
It also means the money is finite in a way that many benefits are not. LIHEAP is not an entitlement: when a state's allocation is spent, applications stop being funded even if applicants still qualify. Applying early in the season is not a nicety, it is most of the strategy.
Where your income has to sit
Federal law fixes only the range. A state cannot set its income limit below 110% of the federal poverty guidelines, and cannot set it above the greater of 150% of poverty or 60% of that state's median income. Most states land somewhere inside that band and publish their own figure.
The second ceiling is the one people miss. For small households, 60% of state median income is often higher than 150% of poverty, so being above 150% of poverty does not necessarily rule you out. Your state agency holds the figure that decides it; no national table can.
Some benefits qualify you automatically
Most states treat a household receiving SNAP, TANF, SSI or certain needs-tested veterans benefits as categorically eligible on income, without a separate income test. If you already receive one of these, the income question may already be answered.
States differ on the detail - some require only one household member to receive the benefit, others require all of them - so this is a strong indicator rather than a decision. It is always worth naming the benefits your household receives on the application.
Four different kinds of help
LIHEAP money pays for four things, and a state need not run all of them. Heating assistance is the core: a payment, usually made directly to your utility or fuel supplier rather than to you. Cooling assistance does the same for summer electricity bills, and matters most in hot states.
Crisis assistance is the one to ask about by name. It is for households facing a shut-off notice, already disconnected, or nearly out of fuel, and it moves far faster than an ordinary application - often within 48 hours where life-threatening conditions exist. Weatherization funds insulation and repairs that cut bills permanently rather than paying one.
Applying, and what to have ready
You apply through your state's LIHEAP office or a local community action agency, not through a federal office. Seasons vary widely: many northern states open heating applications in the autumn and close in the spring, while cooling programmes run through the summer.
Have a recent energy bill or shut-off notice, proof of income for everyone in the household, identity documents, and proof of address. Renters whose heat is included in the rent are often still eligible, on different terms - do not rule yourself out for that reason without asking.
What our calculator works out
Our LIHEAP calculator places your household income inside the federal band - below the 110% floor that every state must cover, within the range where the answer depends on your state's own limit, or above 150% of poverty where the state median income ceiling becomes the question. It also flags the benefits that usually confer automatic eligibility.
What this does not tell you
This shows where you sit against the federal band. It cannot tell you whether you qualify, because your state's income limit, its benefit amount and its remaining funds are all decided at state level.
The calculator does not hold state median income figures and does not estimate a benefit amount, because there is no federal benefit formula to estimate. Deliberately so: a state-specific number that is wrong is worse than one that is absent.
Official sources
What you can do next
Find out where your income sits, then contact your state LIHEAP office directly - its own limit and its application dates are the two facts that settle it. If you are facing a shut-off, ask for crisis assistance by name rather than filing a standard application, and do it before the disconnection date rather than after.